Naruto the Godaime Hokage
by MelodyPotterSnape
Summary: What if Naruto discovered the clone secret the night he learnt it and used it to his advantage. Could the ripple effects of this cause him to become Hokage sooner. Like after the Sound & Sand invasion soon? Seal master, powerful, mature Naruto. Warning Slash or yaoi ahead. No set pairing yet.
1. What it Means to be Hokage

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN SHIT!

AN: I hope you like this story. I know I haven't written in a while and thats mainly due to writers block, depression, and no computer. Finally this january i was able to push my depression aside and write again. while I haven't finished a story i have written the beginnings of two notebooks full. This is just the one that seemed like I needed to post even if I hadn't finished it yet. So I got out my phone and started pecking it out. What can i say? Just because my inspiration came doesn't mean a laptop did. lol.

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Watching the Sand siblings run away with Gaara; Naruto jumped onto Gambunta's back. One hand sign later two clones appeared and carried his teammates to the hospital. Heading towards the gates he swore as he saw a group of large Snake summons breaking down the North gate. Immediately he shot a large fireball at one drawing its attention away. Slapping one of his specially made explosive tags onto a kunai he waited for the Snake to attempt to bite Gambunta. Seeing his chance he threw the kunai into its mouth and quickly cast an Earth jutsu. Within seconds a stone wall rose between his fellow nin and the snake just as it exploded.

Looking at the injured nin around him Naruto drew from Kyuubi chakra and created five hundred clones. " One hundred of you start helping to secure the civilians and dignitaries. You two hundred start tending to the wounded and get them to those medivac tents we passed. You seventy start attacking those fucking invading bastards. I need you thirty to slow down the enemy force. Go set up traps in the forest, but make damn sure it won't be triggered by any of our own. As for the rest of you go protect the medivac tents and hospital."

Sending Gambunta after the remaining summons Naruto headed to the scarred head examinor. Wincing grimly as the screams of enemy nin wrung out throughout the forest he saluted the jounin. "Orders sir?"

The interrogator shook his head and laughed as if amused, "Just continue what you're doing brat. As far as I'm concerned look forward to a promotion after this."

All over the village a familiar blonde was seen fighting off the invading force with a combination of seals and ninjutsu. Others were seen doing firstaid on the injured while more could be seen to be digging out shinobi and civilians alike ou from beneath rubble and carrying them to medivac tents. Though many popped pretty easily yhe upside was that soon Naruto was directing chunnins and jounin where the were needed.

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 **AN note: just so you can see what his actions changed in this story.**

ORIGINAL UNVERSE:

Deaths: 372; 123 of those ninja

Hospitalized: 245; 36 permanently injured

THIS WORLD'S UNIVERSE:

Deaths: 32; 27 shinoibi

Hospitalized: 351; 5 permanently injured

* * *

Exhausted Naruto sat on a chipped stoop as he upended a canteen of water over his head. Shaking out his hair he absently stared as those around him helped in the rebuilding. He much to the mednin's displeasure had even created a dozen clones to help. Much to the blonde's confusion the normally hateful nins were now acting like motherhens. It amazed him how him being seen fighting during the invasion had changed everyone's opinion of him. He always thought it would be a more gradual change, but apparently fighting for the village instead of joining their enemies was something everyone believed the Kyuubi would never do.

Even some chunins and jounins who had ignored him up until now were giving him pats on the back. He almost didn't know what to do with himself now that he no longer saw those cold eyes he was so used to. Though a small part of him felt comforted when his skittishness brought guilt to the faced of those who had mistreated him. It was nice to see that the people who had beat him, destroyed his property, sold him faulty goods at high rates, ect. didn't pretend like they never had. It made forgiving them easier which oddly enough almost feelmade him feel lighter for some reason. Some had even come to him to apologize. Some store owners had even told him that from now on they would sell to him at a discounted rate to hopefully make up for stealing from him. Some who had beat him before had even come to him and apologized and had even offered to let him hit them back or offered to turn themselves in to the authorities for their dishonorable actions. While Naruto could admit to himself that there was a small part of him that wanted to see these people hurt he had managed to overcome it and merely requested them to get counseling.

Shaking himself from his thoughts he nearly jumped when an Anbu appeared before him. "Naruto Uzumaki, you are hereby summoned by the Shinobi Council."

Swallowing nervously Naruto nodded and shunshined to the Hokage Tower. Knocking he was quickly admitted. He kept his face blank and bowed lowly to the Fire Daimyo, before he lowered himself into the traditional kneel used by ninja when receiving orders. The Daimyo walked toward him with a regal air that he had only seen a few times from the old man. His voice had a smoky quality as he spoke though that took nothing from its authoritative wording, "So you are Naruto Uzumaki, the one who to many reports I've seen is the reason why our enemies today were so viscously stamped down. I've also read that many of my peoples lives were saved yesterday by your quick action and protection. For that I applaud you and have personally put an accommodation into your service file."

Naruto blinked back tears as he looked up to the approving face of his country's ruler. The man merely showed the barest hint of a smirk as he continued, "After reading the reports on you I have to say that you show more maturity than I did even a decade ago. If I had been a junchurikki and someone had bemoaned there seal to me in the way the Hyuuga kid did to you; I would have lost my temper with them. I admit that later I may ask you the particulars on how you created that seal on the entire grounds of the arena unnoticed. For now I will just express my pleasure that the famed Uzumaki sealing skills have not died and simply say well done on your fight and that thanks to you I am now the proud owner of a dog from Grass country. Maybe if I am lucky the thing will finally kill my wife's demented cat. I swear that menace is immortal."

Soon the tension in the air was gone and chuckles rang throughout the chambers joining the husky laughter of the Fire Lord. Naruto finally felt himself calming since entering and relaxed his shoulders. The Daimyo appeared to have been waiting for this as now his features finally grew serious. "Laughing matters aside I believe it is finally time we get to the real reason I have summoned you here. I, Kyouka Obasaki, the Twenty- Third Daimyo of Fire Country hereby offer you, Naruto Uzumaki, The position of the Godaime Hokage. Do you accept this position and the responsibilities that come with it?"

Pale faced with shock Naruto shakily raised from his position and stood. Looking around at the blank calculating gazes around him Naruto licked his cracked lips. Thoughtfully he wondered what was holding him back from just saying yes and finally claiming the dream he had so oftenly announced he wanted. Suddenly he realize what was holding him back. Was he really Hokage material? He thought back to the speech he had given Konohanamaru six months ago when the kid declared that he would take the position of Hokage and use to gain rightful recognition he 'apparently' deserved.

_FLASHBACK_

Naruto listened slowly becoming more enraged as the special jounin boasted to the young Sarutobi about how he would teach him all the shortcuts to getting the Hokage position; before listing all the things the kid could get using the power of the position. The only good thing on the list had been secret jutsu though the worst had definitely been free toys from all of Konoha. While he had been nice to the kid for his spoiled wishes for being Hokage as those of a naive child he could not ignore such teachings from a jounin and adult.

Unable to take the arrogance Naruto snappishly commented, "That is why you could never be a Hokage nor should be. How dare you disrespect the sacrifice and honor of the Hokage by such selfish preaching. Power and greed should never be the reason for anyone to become a Hokage."

The jounin snorted and glared at the demon brat disdainfully. "Oh really then why don't you tell me what a Hokage is and why anyone should become one?"

In the Hokage Tower the Elders and commanders watched the exchange with interest as the Hokage spied on his grandson before they started their meeting.

"A Hokage," Naruto began his eyes nearly shining with an inner fire his face detemined and serious, "is a person who is selfless above all else. The position is a place were petty feelings have no right being. It isn't what the position can do for you but what you can do to even have the honor to be a Hokage. To the Hokage nothing comes before the good of the village. Not family, not friends, not power, not ego, not yourself, and not even the right to sleep peacefully at night. A Hokage must order people he wishes to protect to go on missions that they may not come back from. He must choose to do things that goes against the very morals of his being to protect this village. He must stay strong so that his people will even if all he wants to do is fall to his knees and weep. A Hokage is about being more than yourself."

Konohamaru looked at Naruto almost in awe and even Ebisu wasn't unfazed by Naruto's charisma or words. Though his hatred was still strong enough to snarl out his derisive words, "Oh really and your just right for that ,huh?! What right do you have telling anyone they want to be Hokage for selfish reasons? I believe everyone one time another has heard you say that you want to be hokage so that everyone will acknowledge you as anything other than what you are. A worthless dreg on our great village!"

Naruto held back the indigent Konohamaru from attacking his sensei. Meeting the jounin's smug stare Naruto spoke his voice filled with some unidentifiable emotion, "I don't want the position so I can be acknowledged. I want to be acknowledged so that I can be Hokage. Sure I as a person would like being able to walk down a street without being treated as that dreg you so lovingly call me. I would love to be treated as if I am a human being with thoughts and emotions like anyone else, but that isn't the point! How can I ever be Hokage and protect my village if I am not even seen as a human being? I want to be Hokage so that I can be apart of something greater than taking out bandits or stealing information. I want to make a difference! I want to do something like all the hokages before me but different. The Shodaime gave us a home. The Nidaime gave us structure and order. The Sandaime gave us a voice and refused to bow as he led us through war after war. The Yondaime gave us hope, awe, and even his life to protect us even when there was no hope in sight. He gave us our will to continue and be something more. He gave us inspiration. Me I don't know what I can give, but I damn well want to try. So sorry if I think a Hokage should be more than a want for power."

_Flashback Ends_

Dwelling on that memory Naruto's thoughts swirled. Was he ready for such a sacrifice? Was he ready for that kind of power? What if he got everyone killed? His inexperience could bring this village to ruin. Looking around once more he wondered how these people could have so much faith in him when he didn't even have faith in himself. In the end there was only one word he could say.

"Why?"


	2. The Answer of Why

AN: Thank you SayaRules my new beta and first reviewer. In case my summary wasn't clear, this is going to be a yaoi story, but it will not as of yet be a harem. He will not immediately find his one true love mainly because I haven't decided who that is.

...

Instead of the insulted or disappointed faces he was expecting to see, everyone looked almost approving of his question. Slowly, an aged man stood and gave him a stare that almost seemed to see his very soul. Naruto recognized him as the Third's teammate, Homaru Mitokado.

"You ask why and there really is only one answer I can give. As young as you are, you already know what is involved in being a Hokage. Six months ago Shikaku Nara, Asuma Sarutobi, Koharu, and myself came in for a meeting about the last chunin exams. We found him spying on his grandson a fun pastime of his. I was disgusted that a jonin was passing such spoiled rhetoric to such an impressionable mind. Then I heard you speak. I am a man well past his time, Uzumaki. I have lived through wars and peace times. I have murdered, tortured, and stolen. I did so because this is my village and I want to see it last. I will freely admit that over the last couple of decades I have been in a rut. Uzumaki, I have not been that inspired to want to do something, anything, for my village since hearing Hashirama-sensei speak about unity and camaradship in my time as a genin. After that, I asked around about the others' opinions. I was disappointed by just how many expressed similar opinions to that of Ebisu. You ask why, and this is why. I have not seen such charisma, such Will of Fire, since the Shodaime and I think with you that maybe others like me will be moved like I was once."

Naruto felt almost an uncomfortable tightening in his throat as he forced himself not to cry at how honored he felt. To hear that you inspired anyone was always heartwarming, but to find out that you did it like a man who was able to inspire warring clans to unite was overwhelming. He felt like he should both scream it from the rooftops and sit down before his knees caved in.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't see Koharu Utatane stand until he heard her raspy voice, gained from a badly healed throat slash, across from him, "While a student of the first; my real sensei was his wife, your great aunt Mito Uzumaki. She was everything I wanted to be: a woman who had fought both Madara and Hashirama on separate occasions and defeated them, a woman who was all elegance and serenity even after she became the first holder of Kyuubi- a being of such hatred and malice that its very presence caused you feel ill will towards everyone around you..."

Naruto barely held in his curiosity as the woman's voice gave out and she took a long sip of water mixed with some type of medicinal herb. Clearing her throat, the woman pushed on, "I was against Hiruzen announcing your status to the village. Many would believe that my reason was so that you could be a secret weapon, but they would be wrong. I was taught by the first jinchuriki and the second one, your mother Kushina Uzumaki, I took as my student. After that, how could I ever think of you or any other as some kind of chained animal to release and contain at leisure. Right before Mito-sensei went through the process to transfer the Kyuubi, we didn't know that she would, in the end, survive it. I was angry at your mother, whose chakra had a quality that would make her perfect to contain a bijuu. Mito could live another ten years- why did she need to die now just because Kushina's chakra wouldn't allow the transfer in another year? Mito-Sensei noticed my hatred and called me to her death bed. There she told me something very important and that I will never forget. A-..."

Naruto nearly fell over startled, so enraptured in her tale was he. The woman was wheezing as she struggled to catch her breath. Homaru was holding her from behind, massaging her throat and forcing her to drink something from a vial. After ten minutes the woman was finally breathing easy. While too tired to stand, the woman continued once she relaxed in her chair, "As I was saying. She told me 'A jinchuriki does not need extensive training or some kind of specialized, never before seen seal, what they need is love and compassion. For how can they be expected to combat the pinnacle of hatred without something to draw strength from?' I've seen how holders are treated, how they become monsters in response, and I can do nothing but agree with her wisdom. This is why I disagreed with his decision and still do. With all that hatred you've experienced, you could have been Gaara of the Desert yesterday. I can only thank your own compassion that you were the better person. I believe you can be a great Hokage and my answer to your question is that I think this village will go far being led by someone with that kind of compassion- that kind of will."

Naruto could do nothing except bow his head in respect to her speech. Inside his head, his mind swirled with questions. There had been two jinchuriki before him? Why were they all Uzumaki? His mother was Kushina Uzumaki the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, the woman who nearly became Hokage herself and had gone toe-to-toe with the Yellow Flash, the woman whose chakra seemed absorb the color of her enemies' blood? Snorting inwardly, he realized how the Kyuubi's chakra had been explained. Snapping back to attention, he gave voice to his own concerns, "I am barely a B-rank ninja who only knows a couple of D-rank jutsu and a fledgling talent in seals. I also have a very apparent lack of experience. No matter how much charisma or personal traits I might have, nothing can change those facts."

Shikaku Nara, the rumored Anbu commander, snorted, "Actually, your status in the Bingo book has changed. You're now considered a low A-rank ninja and you've even gained the titles of 'The One Man Army' and 'The General'. As for your knowledge, nothing says that you have to stay that way. You would have access to all the jutsu in the Ninja Library and the Hokage Library. In the last six months, you've used your clones to change yourself from a dead last to capable Shinobi. Think of what you can do with these resources at your disposal. Experience wise, yes you are very lacking, but all the past Hokage continued taking missions under aliases and so can you. It was your potential and your knack for getting us treaties that caused me to vote for you to begin with. Sure, there several ninja in the village who are stronger and have more experience than you, but what's more important- A strong ninja who would abuse their power and throw us into another war or someone with the potential to be great and the willingness to do so?"

Hearing this, Naruto felt a familiar feeling of determination fill him. He had once said that he wanted the chance to try to make a difference, it was about time he stopped being a coward and did something. Make no mistake, he knew that most probably voted for him so they could use him as some kind of figurehead, but that didn't mean he had to be. This was his dream and his path and no one would direct him on what way he went. Meeting the Daimyo's eyes he raised his chin and spoke, his voice clear and powerful, "I accept."

...

Alone in his office, Naruto stared transfixed at the wrecked buildings below. Idly, he thought of his coronation in a weeks' time. He had told the council that only Anbu and Elite Jonin would know his status until then, as he wanted to remain unbothered until he learned how to handle the job a bit. Sighing, he turned away from the window and faced the large pile of paperwork that had literally buried his desk. How would he ever finish that much work by himself? He didn't even know enough to know what to sign and what not to. The answer was so obvious, that when he came to it he felt like banging his head against a wall. Puffs of smoke filled the room as shadow clones appeared. Shadows clones were really the answer to everything. (Far, far, away the numbers 42 sneezed. [The person who guesses what movie this came from first gets to choose who Naruto has his first date with along as it is plausible. That means no Orochimaru or anyone equally ridiculous])

Shaking himself from his inner smugness, Naruto started directing his clones. He decided to wait on the paperwork until he understood it better and used his clones for that. He opened the Hokage's library hidden behind the Shodaime's portrait and picked up the journals of his predecessors that were for his use. He gave one each to seven clones. Walking around, he forced himself not to study the numerous jutsu and only looked for the books he needed. Seeing a section labeled missions, he sent ten of his clones to start studying the active ones and another ten to start reading the completed ones starting with the very first one. He then had a group start from the latest one and work themselves back. What better way to learn what might bite him on the ass later than reading about his villages' actions? Not to mention, seeing how they had labeled missions and chosen who to take them might help him with that very same problem.

Walking further into the pocket dimension, which was created by seals he would definitely have to study later, he had ten clones pick up all the law books. He sent twenty into the section that contained all the minutes of every council meeting. He sent ten to study past and present alliances and trade agreements and thirty more to start reading everything gathered on all neighboring countries, including the other major ones. Lastly, he had a group of ten begin reading the personnel files and another ten to read anything not covered by the others, whether it was a census report or some kind of denied proposal that could improve the village.

Finished, Naruto just walked around the vast area in amazement. When he had imagined the library, he had always imagined it as nothing more than a secret space underground that simply had a couple of scrolls like the Forbidden one and maybe a couple of books about the village. He had never imagined it being a massive space the size of the Uchiha clan grounds that contained every piece of information the village has ever received. Not to mention how comfortable it was. He had already passed several little nooks that contained plush chairs and coffee tables so that the Hokage could study at leisure. Yawning, Naruto forced himself to leave what he considered his own little paradise and head back to his office. Staring at the pile of paperwork that seemed to have grown even bigger, he walked by it and settled into the couch for some much-needed sleep.

Groaning at aches in his body, let alone his head, Naruto stretched and cursed. He could practically hear the silent laughter of the Anbu around him. He'd have to remind himself to send the bastards on some kind of embarrassing mission later. Naruto tried to wrap his mind around the information flux he was experiencing. Okay, he memorized the details of a hundred and fifty of his two thousand and something ninja. Suddenly, the number 2972 sprang to the forefront of his mind. Realizing that was him suddenly recalling one of the census reports on his ninja force, Naruto massaged his temples. One of the downsides of using his clones to learn such a wide variety of information was that it always took hours for him organize it into any kind of order for it to be any kind of use and to recall more of what his clones had learned, he almost wanted to smoke some of the Grade A shit he just knew the old man had.

Okay, so he got through one law book per clone and in the end he had read ten of the thirty-six that were there. Immediately, he made that many and sent them off. He honestly wanted to spend as little time he could on such dry material. With that done, he thought back to the council information and frowned at only getting through a month's worth. Honestly, how many meetings did the third have after he created the council? Deciding to send in fifty clones so hopefully he could finish it before he was as old as the Old man, Naruto sat back down onto the couch. Next, he tried to recall the mission files he had read. He had apparently read all the active ones and as for the completed ones it took a minute for his mind to grasp the details. It seems he had gotten through a hundred of the most recent missions and two hundred of the oldest. Satisfied, he repeated the process and added five clones to each group.

Raising himself, he looked out to watch the repairs. Finally, he thought back to the only task his clones had completed. Reading the journals had been fascinating, that is until he read the Nidaime's and Sandaime's. Thinking about some of their entries made his blood boil and his fists tighten. The Nidaime, it seems, created some kind of organization called Root. The bastard apparently had a habit of kidnapping clan children and faking their death. He then brainwashed and tortured the children into becoming emotionless killers that had seals that kept them loyal. What's worse was he had his student Danzo Shimura continue his work. Now, that organization ran separate from that of the Hokage and according to the Sandaime's journals they were creating numerous enemies for Konoha that Konoha simply couldn't afford. For the love of Kami, they slaughtered the Uchiha clan and got away with it! Naruto felt bile rise up in his throat at the thought.

Apparently, twenty-three of the Uchiha's population of two hundred had been planning a coup due to the power that the Sandaime was giving the civilians over ninja matters. Danzo, having inherited the Nidaime's hatred of the Uchiha, decided to kill them all. That included the civilians and children. He apparently didn't even find them worthy enough to put into his Root. The only problem had been Itachi, who had been a lot stronger than anticipated. Itachi, it seems, had killed over half of Root and managed to escape with Sasuke to the Hokage tower. Once there the Sandaime lied and said that Danzo was too dangerous to kill without causing a civil war. In the end, Itachi took the fall and started spying on a criminal group called the Akatsuki with the promise that Sasuke would be safe.

Naruto felt a sliver of disgust aimed at the third for his lie. Apparently, the Sandaime had a seal that could transfer the loyalty of Root to him from Danzo. Not only that, he knew the identity of nearly all of its members and even knew the location of its Headquarters. No. the Sandaime didn't stay his hand because of danger, but out of pride and a need for revenge. Sandaime hadn't wanted to admit that his apathy for the numerous actions Danzo committed had eventually led to the war hawk getting cocky enough to attack their own. Even worse was that he allowed for the petty revenge that in the end had been wrong. It seems his father's last words were to say that the Kyuubi was controlled by an Uchiha. Sadly, the man had been unable to finish his sentence before he died. So Sarutobi blamed the clan for the murder of his wife and people. Later the bastard had found out through Itachi that Minato had meant Madara Uchiha, not the clan. In the end, the Old man had been no different than the villagers. Where they had blamed an innocent child, he had blamed an innocent family.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes tiredly and tried not to remember the old man as a leader of genocide, but as the grandfather figure who had taught him to read and played games with him when no one else would. He forced himself to remember the good in him. Stomach rumbling, Naruto decided to go somewhere and have breakfast. Making a group of clones to start separating his paperwork, Naruto left.


	3. People are not Good or Bad But Both

A/N: Thank you, my lovely readers, for your wonderful reviews. Thank you my lovely beta for making me sound like a smart, educated writer when I am not. Lol! Now, for anyone wondering, this is not a harem. The three guys next to Naruto's name in the story description are future flings of Naruto. As of right now I have no set final pairing, but I do plan for them to be MALE and I plan to have Naruto experiment with many male characters.

Congratulations "A Big Fan", you were the first person to guess the movie right! So, for your reward, your request of Sasuke being the first will come true. Send me a PM if you want this to be simply a fluff kind of date or if you want Sasuke to be the one who gets Naruto virginity. Also for those of you who are wondering. In the last chapter I said shadow clones were the answer everything then I had the number 42 sneeze hinting that 42 was the true answer for everything. I then asked from which movie this came from. The answer was The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Also, Naruto will be the bottom to any of these pairings just so you know.

Naruto frowned sadly as he saw the burnt down Ramen stand. It was the first place he had ever known kindness. Very few stores allowed him service; those that did always overcharged. Restaurants were ten times worse. Only three places offered him food and two spat in his food or gave him spoiled items, but here he was treated like everyone else, if not better. He remembered that the first time he ate here was after being thrown out of the orphanage on his seventh birthday. He hadn't eaten in four days and had been digging through their trash when Teuchi found him. Instead of attacking him like others, the man had plopped him onto a seat and given him free food. By the time he was done, the Hokage had been called and he had lived in an apartment with a stipend ever since.

Moving on, Naruto headed to a restaurant a few blocks down meant for ninja only. Walking in, he ignored the searching gazes of those in the know and ordered fish with an herbal tea. Digging in, he calmly ignored the jonin that sat down in front of him. The man had watery cobalt eyes and a fat nose that took away from his otherwise pleasant features. The man was looking at him distrustfully and his voice had a bit of venom as he spoke, "Already lazing about on the job? What the hell are you doing here instead of working in your office? The village is in chaos and you're not even doing anything!"

Naruto met the man's accusing stare and merely sipped his tea. Around him, others were reprimanding the jonin. Naruto made a gesture to quiet them and replied, "Most of the paperwork is above me, so I'm currently researching everything I can before I start completing it. I, personally, would rather make informed decisions on items that could get everyone killed instead of finishing everything quickly."

Many around him were nodding thoughtfully, though the slightly familiar ninja before him looked skeptical. "Really? You're researching? What on? Looks to me like your pigging out while many of your people don't even have homes?!" the man spat.

Taking another sip, Naruto looked at his plate then up at the man with a raised eyebrow, "Honestly I don't know what's wrong with my meal. Looks very nutritious to me and people say that fish is an antidepressant. Seems like the right thing to be eating at a time like this."

Seeing the man slowly turning red as people snickered around them Naruto continued, "As to what I'm researching, well, my shadow clones are looking into several things: mission statements, law books, general village information, political agreements, and, most importantly, personnel files."

Naruto grinned at his last statement. He recognized the man from one of the files he read that was filled with docks in pay and charges of insubordination. Actually, the man had been informed that he was on his last chance before demotion and restriction. The man seemed to pale and unconsciously shift back in fear, "Personnel files?" he squeaked.

Naruto leaned forward, smirking evilly as he met the man's eyes, "Yes, I'm going through those files. I must say, Misori Manamichi, that I believe it's time for you to go in for your physical. You're three months late and I would so hate to have to put another complaint into your file. It would be a real shame if you were to be demoted, have your pay docked again, and be put on restriction over a measly fear of med-nins or something, right?"

Immediately the man bowed, apologizing, and ran out of the room. Ignoring the laughter and respectful looks around him, Naruto continued with his fish. Once he was done he headed back to the office. Staring at the numerous stacks of paper around the room, Naruto stared suspiciously at the grinning clones he had put in charge of sorting his paperwork. Sighing as they dismissed themselves, he looked around. Chuckling, he figured out the system. The pile on the desk was the invasion reports. The stack in front of the desk was comprised of mission requests. The one on the couch were pre-invasion bullshit from the civilian council. The one next to the door was the rest of the pre-invasion paperwork while the one by the window was post-invasion. Shaking his head he created two clones per pile hoping what his clones had read the night before would help. He, himself, dug out the financial reports so he could see about hiring a construction company to help.

Reading, he was surprised at just how wealthy the village actually was, especially after they seized Gato's assets for his actions in Wave. 'Who knew that Gato was a citizen of Konoha when he was a child?' He thought humorously. Looking into the information he had of Wave country, he checked out Tazuna's construction company. The company, Hope Anew Architecture, wasn't too shabby. They used superb materials, competent workers, and had never had a building collapse. They also had never been sued. He could send them a generous offer and spread good will and maybe make a permanent alliance. The country did connect to Fire country and their Daimyo was dead after offering Wave to Gato. Yes, maybe Wave would want to become a protectorate like Whirlpool used to be.

Picking up an unused scroll, he wrote a formal offer to the company asking for aid. Making a gesture with his hand, he watched as an Anbu with tiger mask fell from his ceiling. "Give this to the Eternal Chunin and tell them to give it to Tazuna of Wave. If he accepts their mission is to guard him and his workers on their journey back here."

With that done, Naruto looked to see how far his clones had gotten. Each pair, it seems, had created three piles. One that they signed, another that they stamped with a rejection symbol, and the last was one where they still didn't understand what was written on the page. Stretching he decided to snoop around and see what the Old man had lying around. One drawer contained two bottles of good Sake, a couple of pipes, tobacco, and lastly the same porn books he had seen Kakashi read. The next drawer was typical office supplies. Opening the last one, he hoped for something interesting. Naruto grew somber as he saw the pictures of the old man's family and what looked like a Will and some letters to his son, daughter, and grandson.

Making the gesture again, he waited as another Anbu appeared though this one came from a wall. Looking down at the fish mask, he nearly rolled his eyes. "Get me the Elders, please."

Waiting for them, he slowly went through design plans for the village. Personally he wanted to improve the housing and areas of the poor. Not only that, they had more than enough to improve the various trade and traditional schools without even making a dent in the budget. Jotting down some ideas to ask Tazuna, he started making up a schedule and resource list for the ninja academy improvements he was thinking of enacting. Finishing up the budget analysis for it, he was interrupted by a knock. Giving them a permission to enter, he noticed that his mission clone was nearly done. Putting that aside for the moment, he waited as the two took a seat.

Both Koharu and Homura were watching his clones in fascination as he took out the items from the third drawer. Handing them over he spoke, "I found those a short while ago and thought you might need them for after the funeral. When is it anyway?"

"Tomorrow morning," the two answered in unison.

Koharu was the first to speak after the stilted silence that followed, "I was planning to drop by today to help you with your paperwork until you had it in hand, though it appears that you have it taken care of. Is there anything you need from me, Hokage-sama?

"Yes, actually, could you stay and let me run some ideas by you? Not to mention that I might end up needing your help with that paperwork. I've got clones studying any relevant information, but there might be some things I'll need help with later if you're up to it?" Naruto questioned leaning forward.

She nodded and Homura picked up Sandaime's papers and left them with a quiet bow. Asking Koharu to make herself comfortable on the couch, he summoned Tiger again, "Please tell Kakashi Hatake to come to my office in one hour, or he will lose pay for his next month of missions and will be the practice target for the academy students. I've gotten the mission scrolls sorted and I need him to distribute them to the assigned people."

With that done, Naruto turned his attention back to the female elder. Taking a sip from his water, he cleared his throat and spoke, trying to contain his excitement, "When I was seven and an academy first year, I was near the top of my class at the academy. Then, a retired Chunin took over for some reason and instead of trap making and weapon throwing being something that counted to most of your grade, flower arrangements and tests on kunai trajectory formulas made up our grade. The fact is we once had the best academy program in the entirety of the Elemental Nations, but now twenty percent more of our graduated genin die a year and kinetic learners like me, who could be great ninja, flunk out of the program.

"If you really want to know how terrible it is, let me give it in realistic terms. Sakura Haruno may have great potential to become a medic ninja or genjutsu mistress someday, but let's go by what her skill level is right now. Her life's goal is to marry Sasuke Uchiha so that she can get his fortune and become popular. She does not train because Sasuke will save her. She is barely average taijutsu-wise to an academy student. She knows no Jutsu outside of the academy three; in the prelims casting three clones nearly exhausted her. Her weapon usage is, again, barely average for an academy student. Now, here is the kicker. She is considered the top kunoichi of our class. Did I mention that I routinely beat her in all practical fields in the academy, if you don't count me being unable to cast an academy clone?"

"Twenty percent? Kami, how have I never noticed? I'm the one that told Hiruzen that he should put a retired ninja in charge of it because he was having a harder time keeping up with all of his responsibilities. What the hell has Tai Fubiaki been doing?!" Koharu growled out, before wincing and clutching her throat in pain.

Passing the woman his water, Naruto continued, "This morning I worked on some reforms for the academy. I also wanted to add a medical ninja program inspired by the one proposed by Tsunade during the Second war. This-"

Naruto was interrupted by Koharu shaking her head. Falling silent he waited for the reason for her disagreement. "While I agree that the academy needs to be altered, there is a reason that Tsunade's proposal was dismissed. It's just not feasible to create a school for medic ninja. The cost for building and clearing an area for it could cost hundreds of thousands in yen. Even if we repurposed an abandoned building the manpower needed to teach the school is impossible. We need all the medical ninja we have to work in the hospital and on missions. We don't have the surplus to remove the a dozen or more of them and stuff them into classes, teaching instead of saving lives. That isn't even going into the fact that there just aren't enough people that would benefit from it. There is a reason that there is an average and above average distinction in chakra control. Probably one out of every twenty people has the natural chakra control needed to be medics. I understand that you want to improve the system, but if you want this to work then you need to be realistic."

Nodding, Naruto understood Koharu completely and even agreed. These were even some of the same conclusions he had when he received the information from his clone the night before. But just because Tsunade's plan was over the top didn't mean that there weren't some good points to it. Once the woman was done making her point he tried to explain the alterations he had made to the proposal before her interruption. "I agree, Tsunade wasn't very realistic in her ideas, but you're wrong that it should be dismissed out of hand. You see, we don't need a separate facility at all, nor do we need a dozen medical teachers. All we need to do is open two unused classrooms in the Academy and have two teachers. Look at the plans I've written and see for yourself."

While Koharu took the folder from his outstretched hand, she didn't immediately read it. Instead, she asked the question burning at the forefront of her mind. "Who would be these two teachers be? Most med-nins are specialist and I don't know a single one who could cover such a vast field inside the village?"

"That's because they aren't. Right now, we have two damn brilliant med-nins globetrotting and gambling, while receiving a Kami-be-damned stipend on the Third's orders. They are receiving a fucking salary from the shinobi corps payroll and not doing a damn thing to earn it. Tsunade practically created all the medical specializations and her apprentice Shizune has mastered three specializations herself in Medical Combat, Poison, and the rarest of all- Seal Based Healing. Can you not think of two better people to have teaching the future generations of ninja?!" Naruto was practically babbling in excitement by the end.

Koharu, though, was not smiling. She was instead looking at him almost hesitantly, as if afraid to burst his bubble, before deciding it would be best to do just that. Sighing, the woman leaned to the side of the couch and tucked her feet behind her as she spoke, "Don't get me wrong, Hokage-sama, this sounds like a brilliant idea and would definitely be a more feasible solution to Tsunade's proposal. The problem is that these 'Globetrotters', as you call them, have sworn never to return. I even agree that they shouldn't be getting paid for their defiance, but the fact remains that they aren't going to come back here to teach this program like you wish."

Naruto nodded, having read about the wayward Sannin from his father's and the Sandaime's journals. "So I've read, but I'm already planning to handle that. I'm calling Jiraiya, Gai, and Anko in later to send them after Tsunade and her apprentice. They'll have one month to find and persuade the duo into coming back. If they can't they'll kill the two as traitors."

The woman looked almost harried as she attempted to dissuade him, "Is that wise? Right now she has expressed no ill will towards Konoha, but if you order her execution there is no telling what she could do. Don't forget that she is a Sannin. Look at what just one Sannin did to this village. Do we really want to give Orochimaru her as an ally? So far she hasn't intentionally harmed us. Do we really wish to provoke her?"

Naruto felt a sort of cold fury at the female Senju. He may be able to ignore the woman's deplorable actions if he could use her skills as an asset to improve the village, but if not then he wanted her dead before she did any more damage. "Thirty-six not even including what she did to Hayate Gekko," he spoke in a near hiss.

Koharu had her head tilted in puzzlement as she repeated his words back to him, "Thirty-six? Hayate Gekko?"

No longer able to remain sitting with his pent up anger, Naruto stood, pacing for a minute, trying to think of the best way to explain another dark secret the old man had hidden, though at least this one wasn't as malicious nor as terrible.

Coming to stand with his back to her, facing the window, he answered, "After the Kyuubi attack, thirty-six people slowly died of chakra poisoning for the next month before the Hokage ordered them a mercy killing. If not, they would have died a very agonizing death over the next six months. Do you ever wonder why he didn't do so after the first week; after he was informed that all avenues had been exhausted and that there was no help for them? Did you ever wonder how he could listen to their pleas of a swift death and force them to go through that torture day after day and not give them what they begged for? He visited them every day because he felt he owed it to them. Only three of them were ninja Koharu. The rest were civilians who hadn't been able to evacuate in time. Most were children, one who wasn't even six. Did you ever wonder why?"

Koharu mutely shook her head and felt a hidden shame fill her. After the Kyuubi attack, she had felt disgusted with the Sandaime for shirking his 'duties' to go play nursemaid. She hadn't really thought of whom he was visiting or why, just that he wasn't fixing the village fast enough or how he wasn't scaring off the other villages lying in wait. Even worse, she was so terrified for their future and how she had no control over it that she did the two unforgivable things. She had betrayed both her friend and Hokage and stole power from him in that stressful time and not only given it to herself, but others who had expressed similar fears to hers, people who had no business having that much power in a military village. She had given the power to clueless, greedy civilians. Forcing herself to meet her new Hokage's eyes, she swore to herself that she would do everything she could to help him in his goals as she waited for him to continue.

"Do you remember how powerful Hayate Gekko was thirteen years ago?" Naruto asked, his tone odd.

Confused at the odd twist to the conversation, Koharu reflexively answered as she tried to grasp the connection between Tsunade, the Kyuubi poisoning, and the recently deceased Hayate. "Hayate Gekko the last member of the Swordsman clan who sought refuge here after Whirlpool's destruction. He was a prodigy who became an S-class ninja before he was fifteen. He was even debated to be a possible Hokage candidate after the Yondaime's death until it was found out that he had suffered a mild untreated poisoning from the Kyuubi's chakra. His condition deteriorated until he had constant lung and muscle problems that caused him to be relabeled a B-rank ninja."

Shoulders tensed, Naruto lightly touched the glass with the fingertips of his right hand. "That is the official story, but not the real one. You see, there was one person that could heal those thirty-six people. Six years before that, Kushina lost control of the Kyuubi and poisoned Mikoto Uchiha. Tsunade, who was Mikoto's Jounin instructor, was thankfully nearby and figured out a way to purify the chakra and save her student. So, when faced with the dying faces of children, what could the Sandaime do, but order the return of his recently-run-away student to help them? Hayate's sickness did not come from the Kyuubi and those people were later killed in mercy. Can you see, Koharu, where I am going with this?"

The elderly woman shook her head frantically as tears spilled down her wrinkled cheeks, but she didn't do so because she didn't understand. No, she wanted to believe that she was wrong. Tsunade, the granddaughter of her senseis, couldn't have fallen so far in her grief. "Kami, no," she whispered, agonized. How could she have ignored her people's pleas of help? How could her grief be so strong as to practically cripple a man who just wanted to help his loved ones? She almost didn't understand why the Hokage wanted her back and hadn't simply ordered the woman's execution. In the end, though, she knew exactly why. Nothing was ever black or white and sometimes you had to go against your desires for the greater good of the village. Having Tsunade teach her extraordinary skills to future generations was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Finally, the wizened woman could no longer hold herself back from asking the one question on her mind, " Why didn't Hiruzen say or do anything?"

"For the same reason he allowed Orochimaru to escape. He wanted to protect a beloved student. Ironic, isn't it, that the student he neglected did not only become the strongest but the most loyal as well."

The silence seemed to last for hours before Naruto had turned to face her and there was something unfathomable in his gaze as he stoically stared at the wall behind her, "Do you believe forewarned is forearmed?"

Seeing her nod absently as she tried to wrap her mind around everything she had learned today, Naruto spoke, his voice almost tired "One of my clones earlier read a report on Baki of Sand's interrogation. He killed Hayate after the sickly man overheard him planning the invasion. Hayate had him beat and was going to kill him when his lungs and muscles gave out due to the exertion. That's how Baki was able to kill him. If we knew about the invasion in advance, think of what we could have done."

Koharu nodded her head tiredly, unable to listen any longer. Seeing her drawn face, he ordered her, "Take a look at my proposal tonight and come here a few hours before the Old Man's funeral. You are dismissed."

Sighing tiredly, he allowed himself to flop inelegantly into his chair. Leaning back, he started dismissing the clones he had in the library. Thirty minutes later, after he dismissed the last batch, he groaned at the throbbing at his temples and looked to see if there was any change for his clones working on his paperwork. Seeing them going back to the incomplete pile he grinned, relieved. Gulping down the last of his water, he heard a thump on his windowsill. Looking back, he saw Kakashi reading his habitual book.

Glaring, he waited for Kakashi to finally get the message and place 'his precious' into his pouch. Eyebrow raised, Naruto handed Kakashi a sealed scroll containing a big stack of mission scrolls. "These are the missions I've approved and assigned. Go to the missions desk and start handing them out. We can't allow ourselves to be seen as weak after this attack, so everything must be business as usual."

Kakashi deftly picked up the scroll and stuffed it into his vest pocket. Instead of immediately leaving, the ninja propped himself up on Naruto's desk. "Why so cold to your beloved teacher? Don't tell me you've already let this position go to your head?"

Naruto glared at his sensei, incensed. He felt warmth fill him, though, as all his Anbu started focusing their killing intent onto Kakashi. Calming slightly, he spoke in a professional tone, "I suggest you stop acting like you know me. You ignored me as your student before now. There is no reason for that to change."

Kakashi seemed almost to wilt in on himself, "Naruto, I never meant for you to feel like that."

"How else did you think I would feel? For Kami's sake, you dumped me onto a demon-hater for the finals! I was your student too. If you only wanted to teach Sasuke, then why didn't you file for a damn apprenticeship?"

Kakashi shook his head slightly as he gestured around him helplessly, "I had no choice. Orochimaru attacked Sasuke in the forest and tried again twice. What's worse is that he was being paired with a raging jinchuriki that could easily kill him and on top of that the seal on his neck brought out his most negative feelings. I couldn't take the chance of him getting kidnapped, killed, or worse running away due to a brainwashing seal. So I had to make sure that I was with him twenty-four seven until Orochimaru was gone and I couldn't train you on top of that. What else could I have done? Especially since Jiraiya had offered to train you."

Naruto nodded sadly, "I understand that, but why pair me with a jounin listed to have burnt down my first apartment in my file? Not only that, if that was your reason for not training me for the finals, then what was your reason for only training Sasuke and Sakura before the exams?"

The ashamed look actually seemed to sooth some kind of hurt inside him that he didn't even realize he had. Kakashi patted Naruto's head as he answered, "When I became your sensei, I was expecting a dark arrogant rookie, a fierce, capable kunoichi, and a class clown who would endanger his teammates in favor of pulling some kind of amazing prank. The only one I seemed to have gotten was the rookie, but even he seemed more insecure, showing false bravado, than arrogant. Sakura was a major disappointment, who frankly to me seemed to act more like the dead last that I had pictured. Except, instead of pranks, her hubris was a need to seem popular by going after a boy she didn't even know the first thing about. Then there was you. Out of the three, you were the one I was most glad to be wrong about. You had proven to have been an un-encouraged prodigy. To my amazement, not only had you figured out the clone secret, but you were already using it to your advantage. That, plus your creative thinking trained by your numerous pranks, led to probably one of the most self-sufficient genin I had seen since the war. So, in the end I focused on the ones who needed my help. Sasuke, because I was unsure of his mental stability and Sakura because she just seemed to never care. For that, I am sorry. You deserved better from me, Naruto. Can you forgive me?"

Listening to the jonin's reasoning actually gave him a good deal of relief. He had always wondered if Kakashi hated him, but to find out that he didn't made him nearly giddy. Meeting the jonin's eye, he gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't show up late for at least half of my meetings and I'll call us even, how's that?"

The lone eye smile was all the answer Naruto needed.


	4. The Skies Weep

A/N: Thank you, my lovely beta, for sprucing up this chapter and thank you, my lovely reviewers, for your lovely words. I hope you like this chapter.

Dear Guest: I'm sorry, but Naruto won't be following them to find Tsunade.

* * *

Working steadily on his never ending paperwork, Naruto grinned as one of his Anbu threw a kunai past his cheek and into the window sill right next to Jiraiya's family jewels. That was one of the orders he had instituted yesterday after being caught off guard by Kakashi's entrance. The fact was, he was not an S-class ninja who could sense visitors dropping in behind him, so to keep a strong front he had ordered his Anbu to give warning shots to people who entered from there. If they repeated their actions, the Anbu had been given the permission to have a little fun with the offending ninja. For Kami's sake, there was a door why not use it!

"What the hell, brat? Is this any way to treat your Great and Powerful Master! See if I teach you anymore fancy jutsu in the future. The lovely ladies need those parts, okay?!" Jiraiya swung his arms dramatically as he walked past Naruto and dropped himself into the seat in front of him.

Snorting, Naruto replied, "I think the ladies only put up with your presence for the money. It's not like you have anything really impressive down there for them to fall over themselves for."

"How dare you, you little shit?! I have amazing equipment down there, thank you very much. For the record, I am a charming, dashing man in the pique of his physique. The ladies love me and you know that your little gay ass wants some of this too," the Sannin proclaimed, grinning.

"You know it. I'm all hot and bothered just thinking about it," Naruto deadpanned, causing uproarious laughter to burst from the Sannin.

Pleasantries being done, they both grew serious. Handing Jiraiya one of the third's journals, Naruto spoke, "Open that to page two hundred and fifty-seven and read."

Opening the book, the Sannin looked up, startled to see that it was his sensei's journal. Nodding his head to tell Jiraiya to go on, Naruto watched as the Sannin flipped through the pages. Once reading, the man's face became haggard with grief as he was forced to relive the event of his student's death. The further the Sannin read the more furious and sad he looked, but Naruto noticed that there was no surprise.

Once done, Naruto finally asked the question burning on his mind, "You knew of Tsunade's actions? I got the vibe that Sarutobi didn't tell anyone about this."

"I didn't know for sure, but I suspected," the Sannin admitted. "I, too, remembered the Mikoto incident as I was the seal master who checked the seal afterwards, due to the Uzumaki annihilation and Kushina not being trusted to be impartial with her own seal. When I came back and heard about the death of those people, I just knew."

The look on Jiraiya's face was one of pure hopelessness. "I asked once and was rebuffed, but I had all the confirmation I needed. It's not like I needed anything further to know that Sensei had chosen to protect his prized students, like usual," Jiraiya spoke with a tinge of bitterness.

"Want to talk about it?" Naruto asked softly. He knew the Sannin had probably never had anyone to get these things off his chest to. The third was a well-loved Hokage; with Jiraiya's skill, no one would ever suspect how neglected and ignored he had been. Put on top that the fact that his two teammates turned on the village and it put him in a suspicious light that no one could fully shake off. He had to be careful about speaking to the wrong person.

Jiraiya's smile was warm, "Thanks, brat. Sometimes your sweetness reminds me so much of your father. Everyone always remembers how intelligent and powerful he was, but my most fond memory was of him letting me cry on his shoulder after finding out that my fiancée was dead."

"Your fiancée?" Naruto spat out, surprised. He would have never expected it, what with the Sannin's playboy nature.

The Sannin looked amused at his reaction as he answered, "Natsuki Uzumaki, your second cousin I believe. It was two months after I had been summoned to the Toads. I had come back to find that my team hadn't even noticed that I had been gone. Hurt and with a new fascination of seals, I had spent most of my time on our mission talking with her. She taught me everything I know about seals. Then, a few years later, she immigrated to the Konoha due to the genocide of Whirlpool. We fell in love and I proposed six months later with the use of illusion seals. Two days before our wedding, she was killed in the last battle of the war. I was destroyed and after getting my team killed due to my grief I asked for a year of leave. I was refused and given a lecture on accepting death and reprimanded for 'my treasonous actions'. Not that any of that mattered when he gave leave to Tsunade two months later after her own fiancé died on a mission to Demon country."

Standing, Naruto walked over and hugged the Sannin, whose bitter sadness was overwhelming him. He had come to see the man as something like a loved uncle in their short time together and he couldn't bear to see him look so broken.

A few minutes later, he released the Sannin and went back over to his desk. Seeing Jiraiya brushing off his moment of grief, they continued. "I had you read that information so that you know all the facts for your mission. I want you to lead a squad filled with Anko and Gai to find Tsunade and Shizune and bring them back. You see, I'm rehauling the academy curriculum and adding a medical section to it. I want those two to teach it for me. They will be more use to the village training future generations than going from city to city racking up gambling debt."

"And if she refuses?" Jiraiya asked, his face showing he suspected the answer.

Naruto leaned forward and rested his chin on his steepled fingers, "Your orders are to kill her. She is a high-level threat who knows too much about our village to be left alone, especially after her attack on Hayate. With her fear of blood and the reports of her letting her skills deteriorate, I can't let her fall into enemy hands. Quite frankly, if she wasn't so damn useful I would simply send Hayate's girlfriend to kill her for her crimes. I'm sure that the woman could make the Senju feel every bit of pain those Kyuubi victims felt."

"Yuugao knows?" Jiraiya asked, shivering at the thought of the terrifying woman. She was a rising S-rank ninja whose sadism could make Ibiki the Monster cry. He felt a slight sadness at being ordered to kill his teammate, but he agreed with Naruto's reasoning.

Naruto's head tilted as he spoke, "When Hayate was admitted, the third assumed he was suffering effects of the Kyuubi and had simply failed to locate Tsunade. He allowed Yuugao to stay for the report due to the healers fears of him dying."

"Is there going to be any trouble with her?" Jiraiya asked.

"No. I called her in earlier and she understood my reasoning. I also told her of the seal I'm putting on them both and how Tsunade is going to go through a punishment stay with Ibiki. She was grateful. She also seems to show no tension with the sand-nin. I asked her about it and she was a soldier about it and she understood following orders, even if you don't like them. How could she blame another's country's ninja for doing their job? I kinda like her and I'm thinking of asking Shikaku if she is ready for a promotion," Naruto said as he leaned back into his chair.

"Seal?" Jiraiya leaned forward with interest.

"It's a combination of the Bird Seal and Danzo's Silence seal. I can enact pain onto her if needed and she will be unable to speak of the seal."

Jiraiya sighed and stood, "When do you want me to head out?"

"If you wish you can wait 'till after the funeral"

"Thank you."

* * *

Naruto smiled as he saw Koharu enter with an almost hyper air. Sitting down primly, the woman laid down the folder and spoke first, her enthusiasm radiating from her. "Your proposal is brilliant, Hokage-sama. I love how you have one teacher overseeing one or two subjects. It definitely will help make sure things do not slip by. Not to mention, bringing in civilians to teach the non-ninja courses will actually free up a few of our ninja from there. It was well thought out."

"Thank you Koharu. What was your opinion on having the Friday specialization day for the seniors? Do you think it will be worth the loss of ninja for the day?" Naruto asked, pensive.

Koharu shook her head, "No, I don't think it will affect things too much, especially with the skills the future genin will have from it. We may even get a few more seal and kenjutsu specialists from it. With your idea, we'll be getting quality and quantity. Since they will be learning teamwork from such a young age and being taught better skills, we might not even have to fail any."

Naruto smiled, "That's actually the idea. I find it such a waste to spend the resources training them, only to fail them for not being able to work as a team. The tough course load will have the lazy and weak dropping out and bi-annual mental exams will keep the dangerous ones in check. Also, we can see who works best with who due to them practicing fake missions in one of their classes. While there, the genin will learn problem-solving skills, tactics, and teamwork. Not only that, the extensive chakra training will hopefully create more ninja capable of doing medical jutsu and hopefully with two ninjas offering to teach them, it will inspire more to become medics."

"Yes, I agree. I calculated the numbers last night and with this program our ninja population should raise by twenty-two percent within the next five years. Even better, if only five children become medic-nin every year, we could have a thirty-eight percent increase in the next seven years. With that medical increase, our death rate could potentially fall by eleven percent; with the improved genin, their death rate would go down twenty-six percent. Right now, we have a ninja population of 2,972. In ten years, if we have no sudden disasters or wars, we could have 5,063!" Koharu explained, gesturing with her arms excitedly.

Naruto suddenly had an idea, "What if a year after we start this program, we start another? Okay, we could open another abandoned room in the academy and have a class filled with only civilians who want to become Healers, but not ninja. There's got to be quite a few of those, especially with all those clinics opening up recently that have non-chakra healers. Basically, any adult with a natural talent or child young enough to train their control could be admitted. We could have Tsunade or Shizune teach it if they have enough free time, which they should since they only teach three hours a day with the schedule I have made. Then, when they graduate they could free up some of our med-nins to do fieldwork. Hell, in a couple of years this could create more medical teachers, which would free up Tsunade to spend more time in the hospital."

"It could work, but we'll have to be more careful with what they hear. The wrong civilian hearing the wrong words from a delirious ninja could cause a bad information leak," Koharu replied thoughtfully.

Naruto nodded sheepishly, having not even thought of that, "That's true. We could make a contract that gives us permission to put something similar to Danzo's silencing seal on them if they choose to work for the hospital. I might have Jiraiya look into it if I can't figure it out, but this idea doesn't need to be implemented so soon. I could spend a couple of years working out the kinks and still have a good turn out."

Hearing a clock strike nine, the two bowed to each other and departed to get ready for the Hiruzen Sarutobi's funeral.

* * *

Naruto laid his rose on top of the old man's casket like all the others before him. Looking at the picture of the deceased nin, Naruto felt the anger that he had built towards the man in the last couple of days melt away. The man had died protecting this village, so what was the point of holding onto the anger? All it would do was twist all the good memories he had of the man, like the time Sarutobi took him to the top of the Hokage Mountain for the first time on his birthday, or the time he came home to ugly words painted onto his apartment walls. The old man had made a game of painting his apartment until he no longer thought of how upset he was at the words. The rest of the night, Sarutobi told him fairy-tale stories until he fell asleep. That was how he wanted to remember the man. Suddenly, the skies opened up and rain poured all around them. Idly, he wondered if the skies were weeping.

* * *

Back at the office, Naruto saw that all of his clones were done with their paperwork. It may have taken several copies of him and forty-eight hours of constant work, but he had done it. He felt self-satisfaction fill him briefly as he simply stared at his snoozing clones for a moment. Feeling the calculating gazes of his Anbu guard change to amused ones, he quickly went to work dismissing his clones and organizing their memories. Feeling the familiar headache, he allowed himself a minute to sleep on the sofa.

One hour later, Naruto shot up, panting. Throwing himself off of the couch, Naruto ran to the Hokage Library and gathered nineteen files. Rushing back to his desk, a few Anbu jumped as he swept all the knickknacks and files off of it and threw the personnel files he had just gotten onto it. Turning around, he gathered a few reports and duty rosters from the invasion stack. Once done, he picked up a few random files from other stacks before putting them on the desk as well.

As Naruto leafed through the papers, he shook in near disbelief at how all the bits and pieces were coming together to show one ugly picture. Opening each personnel file one-by-one, he slapped them shut as he saw what he had been looking for.

Izo Boshi - Suspected Root Member

Mei Gutsu - Confirmed Root Member

Natsu Nami - Suspected Root Member

This was how it went for seventeen of the nineteen patrol members. It was safe to assume that the other two were Root, as well. Enraged, he threw the files at the wall. All those people had been the Anbu who had patrolled the territory that Orochimaru's army had come through 'undetected'. Summoning some clones, he had two of them clean up his mess, six gather all the files on Danzo, and one go get the minutes of the council meeting concerning the Hokage replacement. Looking through it, he gritted his teeth as he read of Danzo's attempts to get the position. Dammit! Was the man's thirst for power so strong that had felt it was okay to help Orochimaru invade for the chance to be Hokage?

Waving for the Tiger mask ninja to appear, he ordered, his voice cold. "Get me Sasuke Uchiha and summon all members of the council to show up in two hours, even the civilian ones who do not know of my position. Also, I want Kakashi Hatake here in an hour and a half. Tell him it's an emergency and this isn't one of those meetings he can show up late for. Dismissed."


	5. Traitors Never Prosper

Naruto looked at the extensive collection of seals in the library. Sighing, he made a hundred clones to go through every scroll to find what he was looking for before the council arrived. Not to mention that he also had to make it. Sighing once more, he heard his secretary allow someone in.

Heading back, he heard the slight nervous edge in Sasuke's voice as he called out, "Hokage-sama, you summoned me?"

Walking through the doorway, his appearance caused the Uchiha to become agitated, "Naruto?! Do you know why we've been called here? Does this have something to do with Gaara?"

Smiling softly at the closest person he had to a friend (other than Shikamaru), Naruto waved his arm to a seat, "Actually, Sasuke, I'm the one who called you here. You see, now that I've succeeded in my dream I want to talk to you about yours."

Sasuke looked at Naruto sitting in the chair behind the Hokage's desk with disbelief. "No way could you have gotten an Anbu to betray their duties and summon someone under a false order of the Hokage. Not even you could pull a prank like this. You are our new Hokage?"

At Naruto's nod his visage took on an air of suspicion, "I won't even bring up how odd I find you becoming Hokage is or ask about all the particulars. I'll just say congratulations and leave it at that. Now, what is this about my goal. Do you have news about Itachi?"

His face grim, Naruto looked at Sasuke beseechingly, "Sasuke do you trust me?"

"I jumped in front of a load of senbon for you and I followed your lead throughout the second part of the exam. What says 'trust' more than that?"

"I-I- um- thank you, Sasuke. If one of the Hokages before me did something terrible, would you think I or this village would need to pay for it in their place?"

"Of course not! Where is this coming from, Naruto? Has someone threatened you or Konoha?" Sasuke rose from his chair, walking around the desk to get a better look at Naruto's downturned face.

Looking up to meet his team mate's searching gaze, Naruto spoke, his voice hesitant, "Even if the terrible thing was done to you?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke demanded.

"Itachi had nothing to do with your family's murder. He was innocent. Their-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted, backing up away from him, "I saw him. I saw him stab my mother in the back. It was Itachi! He- He snapped under the strain of being an Anbu at such a young age. They told me-. He went crazy, Naruto. He did it; I would know if it was another. It was him. It has to have been him."

Sasuke was in hysterics as he slid down the wall into a fetal position. He was repeating 'It has to be him' over and over as he shook his head. Kneeling next to him, Naruto placed his hand comfortingly on Sasuke's shoulder. "You remember it that way because Sarutobi ordered a Yamanaka to twist the events in your mind. Itachi willingly took the blame- both to protect you and to keep a civil war from breaking out."

"Civil war? I don't understand- who killed them?"

"Your clan was plotting a coup; Danzo, who always disliked the power the Uchihas had in the village, had his operatives kill them. Itachi fought off the ones who attacked you and your parents covered the both of you so that you could escape and get help. S-"

Sasuke rocked onto his knees, his face indigent, "Coup?! What Coup? My clan loved this village and would never have harmed it for some kind of power grab. Who the hell is Danzo and if Itachi and I made it for help then why did no one survive except us?"

"In their defense, they were planning the coup due to how much power the civilian council was getting over the shinobi and the rise in ninja death. They had lobbied the Hokage and had been blocked from talking to the Daimyo. As much as I cared for the old man, I admit that I agreed with your clan on this matter though I think they should have called a ninja assembly and got the ninjas' opinion. That might have changed things," Naruto answered. Sasuke seemed more accepting of his comfort after hearing Naruto's agreement.

Continuing, Naruto's voice had a tinge of contempt to it, "Danzo is a warmongering traitorous bastard who runs an organization created by the Nidaime. It is made up of kidnaped children- brainwashed and trained in inhumane conditions to be the perfect attack dogs. Reading through the records makes me want to strangle the Third for not getting rid of him for all them backstabbing he has done for the village. Honestly, due to that man's double dealing, we're lucky to have any allies at all- let alone not be at war with them. It's going to take me years- probably- to fix this mess, if it can be fixed at all. I mainly called-"

"Why hasn't he been executed for treason already- or at least been assassinated?" Sasuke interrupted.

"The Sandaime- from what I've read- had a weakness for looking the other way for the ones he was close to. I can understand it and would even cover up for those I care for as well, but never to the extent he seemed to. It's either that or he was just too apathetic to Danzo's dealings to act. Though, sadly, that is only part of the reason that your clan wasn't saved. You see, when the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into me, the jutsu he used started to slowly kill him. When the Sandaime finally arrived, he was holding on by a thread. According to what Itachi related to us in his reports, he was trying to tell us that Madara Uchiha had set the Kyuubi onto us, but he died mid-sentence. The Sandaime assumed he meant that the clan did it, so he refused to help your clan as a means of revenge for his village."

"What?" Sasuke rasped out harshly. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and shook him. "My clan died for the actions of a fucking traitor! Sarutobi helped murder my family for something they didn't even do? Why have you told me this?"

"I was planning to break it to you slowly, but Danzo helped Orochimaru during the attack. I am disposing of him during the council meeting. I originally planned to deal with him after I became more comfortable as a Hokage, but knowing that he purposely had this village invaded and attacked makes him too much of a risk to be left alone. Nothing I do can bring back your family or rid you of the pain, however, I can let you bring them justice. Do you wish to be the one to read out his crimes to the council?"

Sasuke seemed to almost be in a state of shock. Naruto knew it was too much too soon, but he couldn't have Danzo killed without giving Sasuke the chance to have his justice. Suddenly, Sasuke looked at him with a solemn but determined look, "What do you need?"

As the last of the both councils sat, Naruto stepped out of the shadows and dropped lazily into the Hokage's chair. A blue haired civilian man, enraged, leaned forward and roared out, "What is the meaning of this?! You are a genin and you have no right to be in these chambers, let alone to sit in that chair! I thought we were summoned by the new Hokage's; why are they allowing this? Anbu throw that brat out!"

Naruto flared a little bit of his killer intent, causing the man to quieten. While not powerful enough to faze any of the ninjas in the room, the killing intent was more than enough to scare a civilian. Looking around, he saw pensive looks on the civilians and the shinobi who had only voted for him so that they could control him. Though Inoichi, Choza, Shikaku, and the elders looked at him with both respect and small amounts of glee as they waited for him to respond to the civilian council.

"My name, councilman Tsunin Abame, is Naruto Uzumaki; it is not brat, demon, monster, or any other slanderous name you wish to call me. Alas, that is beside the point, because you will not address me by my name either. You will address me as Hokage-sama and nothing else. If you do not, I will have your ass thrown out of this council before you can even apologize. Also, Councilman, if you try to give my shinobi an order again, I'll send you to Ibiki for reconditioning. You have no authority over them and I will not stand for such behavior. They are my soldiers and I will give them orders. Am I clear?" Naruto spoke, his tone deadly.

Tsunin paled as he realized that he had insulted the new Hokage. A pink haired woman with a greedy gleam in her eye that Naruto recognized at Sakura's mother leaned forward, "I apologize for my colleague's behavior, Hokage-sama. He- I admit- has a penchant for overzealousness. Hokage-sama, I am not trying to criticize you, but I'm sure with your recent appointment you're a little lost on how things are done. You see, we- as council members- have the authority to give orders to the ninja corps. It's how things have been done for years and you will realize that it will lessen the strain on your shoulders. Now, I'm sure you're having a hard time with your paperwork with how new you are to the job; if you wish, I can come by later and give you some tips?"

Naruto smiled sharply and focused his intent onto her, causing a brief flinch, "As gracious as your offer is, Nayomi, I am going to refuse it. Now, to be perfectly frank, I don't give a damn how things are done. You give an order to one of mine and I'll regard it as you being defiant towards me. Sort of a step down from treason, in my book, and you will go to Ibiki. Now, as for my inexperience, I have accepted the help of Koharu and Homura. Though, when it comes to the paperwork I will have little need seeing as I completed everything a couple of hours ago."

Inoichi choked, "You finished it all?"

Naruto grinned amusedly as he nodded to the startled jonin. Turning back to the Haruno, he unleashed a small pinch of Kyuubi's intent, causing the nins to sweat a little and the civilians to choke themselves, "Yes, I finished all of it. That also means, civilian members, that I got through all your proposals as well. Hiruzen Sarutobi might have allowed you to get away with sending documents that would trick him into giving you more power, but I will not. As of now, I've activated a clause that resets your power into what it was when you were created. You are now back to how you were originally. You are advisors and as far as I'm concerned that is what you will stay, for now. I will not hear a complaint otherwise and if one of you even try to send me anything that will give you power, I will have you executed for the fucking traitors you are. This village is not run by a democracy, it is run by a dictatorship and I believe it is about time you all remember that. Oh- by the way- I wouldn't bother sending any complaints to the Daimyo. I've sent him a report about this and what things you have done with the power you used to have. He was most displeased."

Glancing around, he saw the furious expressions around him. Flaring his chakra, he activated the seals he had placed twenty minutes earlier in preparation for this meeting. Seeing the widening of everyone's eyes as they were forcibly paralyzed along with their chakra, he flared more of the Kyuubi's intent. The seal allowed them only move their eyes and mouths, though with great difficulty. "Now I'm sure many of you would still try, because you don't think I would truly take care of you if needed, so allow me to demonstrate to you my tolerance for traitors and what I'll do to handle them. You see, I called you here to take care of our biggest traitor since Madara Uchiha. Sasuke, if you would."

Sasuke stepped out of the same shadows he had earlier hidden in. He was holding a scroll out in front of him, "Danzo Shimura, you are hereby charged with high treason. Your crimes are as follows: falsifying the Hokage's seal to enact agreements with other villages, double-crossing these villages and valid allies against the orders of the Hokage, running an illegal military organization that had been disbanded, kidnapping two-hundred and twenty-six children and torturing them into being your soldiers, running an illegal military organization that does not answer to the Hokage, breaking the clan treaties with Konoha by eliminating the Uchiha Clan, murdering one-hundred thirty-nine innocent Uchiha on the seventeenth of May, 2022 AC, and finally, conspiring with Orochimaru to invade Konoha and murder the Third Hokage."

Danzo paled and the seals couldn't quite keep the anger off everyone's faces at the knowledge, no matter if they were civilian or shinobi. The crippled man forced himself to speak, "Root, defend!"

Naruto smirked almost lazily as he slunk over to the traitor. Bending down to where his lips were just at Danzo's ear, he whispered loud enough so that everyone could hear him, "Sorry, Danzo, that isn't going to work. I made sure to send my Anbu away when I planned this and they've been sent out on a wild-goose chase for now. So your little plant in my guard isn't here right now. Also, this seal keeps you from using chakra so your seals aren't going to allow you to send orders through them. You're going to die here like the worthless coward you are."

Everyone watched, transfixed, as Naruto removed Danzo's shirt to reveal three seals on the man's scarred chest. Naruto then pulled his own jacket and shirt off to reveal an intricate seal on his own chest that had an empty space in the middle. He pulled out a brush and a container filled with his blood and kanji ink. Dipping the brush, he started writing kanji around Danzo's seals that looked like a mirror image of the one on Naruto's chest. Once he was done, Naruto drew chakra into his hand until it was clearly visible and slapped it onto Danzo's newly drawn seal. The crippled traitor screamed as the seal turned a burning red. Slowly, the three seals that had been on Danzo's chest originally disappeared and formed in the empty space of Naruto's seal. Naruto grit his own teeth; the feeling of transferring the seals felt like being branded repeatedly. Finally, after all of that was finished, he removed his hand and stepped back, revealing Danzo's bare chest.

Looking at the man's panicked gaze, Naruto smiled ferally, "There, now your Root are loyal to their Hokage and not a power hungry, warmongering traitor. Now I, Naruto Uzumaki- the Godaime Hokage, do hereby order the execution of Danzo Shimura for high treason. Sasuke do you wish to do the honors, or would you prefer Kakashi do so?"

Sasuke looked slightly conflicted as he stared at the man who had essentially murdered his family. Naruto knew that the Uchiha was slowly realizing that actually killing the man behind the massacre was harder than he thought. Naruto also knew that most of the problem was in the fact that Sasuke had never killed before; killing in the heat of the action on a mission was a lot easier than striking down a paralyzed man. Sadly, Naruto couldn't release Danzo just to make it easier as the man was too dangerous. He could only give Sasuke an out in Kakashi.

Sasuke finally cleared his throat and looked at Naruto, expressionless, though Naruto could see the barest of shame and self-loathing in his eyes. "I think Kakashi-sensei should do the honors."

Immediately, a screeching bird noise filled the room and everyone saw Kakashi drop from the ceiling. The gray-haired shinobi flipped in midair and his famed Raikiri slashed through Danzo's neck as Kakashi landed on his feet. A small flash of a scroll was all anyone saw as the man's decapitated head disappeared. As the ninja stuffed the scroll into his pocket with one hand, the other became covered in golden flames and touched the headless body. In seconds, only ashes were left. Kakashi turned and stood next to Naruto protectively.

Meeting everyone's searching gaze, Naruto spoke, his voice like steel, "I have no problem if you wish to voice displeasure in any of my actions or if you have opinions differing from mine. I simply will not stand for power grabbing or backstabbing. If you disagree with me, all I ask is that you be respectful and reasonable about it. If you turn on this village, I will execute you if need be; if I don't- well Ibiki will surely make you wish I did."

Releasing the seals, he watched passively as many of the civilians puked. He waited patiently for the eventual blowout and was not disappointed as Tsume Inuzuka stood up, her fists clenched, and her face puce with rage, "You paralyzed us! We had no way to defend ourselves if you had decided to kill us, as well! How can we conduct our meetings if we can't trust that you will not kill us?"

"First of all, I am a little disgusted that you think you were a match for Sarutobi. He could have easily have killed all of you at any time he wished, so don't for a second believe that you're just suddenly in danger now. Second, I paralyzed all of you to make sure that no one here was a Root member who could help Danzo. Danzo may have been crippled, but he was an S-class shinobi for a reason and I was not going to chance him escaping just to please your delicate sensibilities, Inuzuka. It's a good thing, too, because now that I hold the seals he used on Root I know that one of you was, in fact, a member," Naruto replied, his brow arched and his voice filled with distaste. Many council members, including the civilians, were even looking at the woman patronizingly.

The woman sat down, a little shamefaced at her outburst. Others were looking among each other, trying to figure out who the Root member was. Naruto smirked lightly as everyone stared solely at the ninja council and no one considered the civilians. Staring at the purple haired man amongst the civilian council, he was glad to see that the man actually looked relieved to see Danzo dead. It was good to know that the majority of the loyalty the Root felt for Danzo was manufactured by one of the seals. This would make taking over the organization much easier than he had expected.

"Keiba Yami, are you truly a civilian or were you trained in the ninja arts, as well?" Naruto questioned, causing many to look at the mild mannered man with surprise.

The man smiled slightly as he nodded to his new leader, "I am a B-class nin, actually, and despite the need for me to keep up appearances, I still take missions here and there. I specialize in genjutsu and my real name is Aku Batsu. It will be an honor to serve you, Hokage-sama, if you will have me."

Nodding to the man, Naruto decided that it would be prudent to meet with all of Root later. Shaking himself from his plans, he met the blue eyes of the ninja and spoke, "I will be more than happy to have you among my ranks, Aku. Though, the fact remains that you are a ninja and have no place among the civilian members. Instead, I will be creating a division among the Shinobi council for Root and you will be the head of it. That is if you will accept?"

The man nodded and Naruto received no objections, although a few of the Shinobi council did look a little sour at the news. It was Hiashi who finally interrupted the ensuing silence, "What do you mean that Danzo was behind the Uchiha tragedy? Did he help Itachi?"

Murmurs rang throughout the room as everyone considered the actual reasons Danzo was killed for. Soon, chaotic sounds rang out as everyone argued. Flaring his chakra, Naruto smiled pleasantly at the silence and answered, "Danzo has been slowly stealing power from the Hokage by using the civilians. Fugaku was displeased by this and tried to get the Sandaime to stop it on many occasions. When that didn't work, he tried to get a meeting with the Daimyo, but Danzo intercepted all of his requests. Instead of calling a full ninja meeting to voice his fears, he chose to plan a coup. Danzo decided to kill all of the Uchiha, including the innocent, to keep his power. Itachi and Sasuke finally escaped and made it to the Sandaime. Once there, Itachi and he decided to label Itachi a missing-nin and sent him to spy for Konoha. Sasuke's memories were stored away and the incident was covered up to keep us from having a civil war."

Distressed shouts about the news stopped as Inoichi stood, "For the love of Kami, grow up! Yes, a clan was exterminated, which goes against the very reason we joined Konoha to begin with. Now, I may have wished that it wasn't covered up and that it didn't happen in the first place, but the fact is that it did happen. I should know; I was the one called to handle Sasuke's memories. If I could trust keeping my clan here immediately after the incident, shouldn't you- especially seven years later with the two main enforcers dead? Our new Hokage trusted us enough to handle this information without giving in to the Sandaime's predictions of Civil War. Do you really want to prove him wrong and endanger all our families to a useless war?"

Many nodded grimly. Shibi Aburame stood, "Yamanaka-san is correct. It is illogical to leave or fight now. The Hokage has executed Shimura for his crimes and our Third absolved himself of any wrong-doings when he died for us. I have watched our Godaime closely the past days. He has had clones help in the rebuilding, even though he- himself- is overworked taking over his new position. He has already taken steps to get our homes rebuilt and he has worked endlessly to get on top of everything he will need to know to be our Hokage. He has even come clean about an injustice done to us all, even though it would have been easier for him to keep silent about it. I believe we should trust our Godaime and work towards rebuilding our home and defending it against those who would seek to tear us down after this. Let us not help our enemies by fighting amongst ourselves. What I would like to know more of is Shimura's actions in accordance with the Sound invasion."

Naruto met the hesitant faces determinedly, "With the help of my clones, I was able to detect an oddity to the Invasion reports that I would otherwise have missed. The Sound and Sand forces came from the North undetected. I found that disheartening and odd, but it wasn't until I realized that everyone covering that patrol was a Root member that the truth became apparent. Orochimaru had inside help and adding the fact that Danzo immediately tried to get himself named Hokage's, it is easy to see why he chose to help the Sannin."

"He had us his own people attacked just so he could try to become the Hokage?" Shai Ryuko, a civilian member, gasped out, horrified.

Nodding, Naruto decided to end the meeting. Everyone looked wrung out at all the information, not to mention he really wanted to talk to Sasuke, who was being eerily quiet, "I think this is enough for one day. I leave you to come to terms with this, as I have some work I need to do. I'll call you again when it's time for our next meeting. Hopefully, it will be over less depressing matters."

With that, he walked out, guiding Sasuke to his office as the raven haired ninja followed docilely. Worried at how out of character his friend was acting, Naruto wondered if he had damaged his friend once again.


	6. Interlude

A/N: Thank you my lovely reviewers and beta. Hope you like this next installment. Also I have two other stories you may like posted. One is a Harry Potter fic were Harry tricks Dumbledore into 'forcing' him to marry Snape. The other is a story were I've flipped the gender of the main character of a game called Tales of Abyss. See you soon. 

Sitting next to Sasuke on the couch with Kakashi sitting on the arm, Naruto waited for the dark-haired teen to speak. Sasuke stared, glassy-eyed, at the Hokage portraits. They waited half an hour for the Uchiha. Finally, the raven-haired boy turned to his sensei, "I've worked for so long so that I could kill the one who murdered my family. Everything I've done was so that I could avenge them, and yet I had the option to kill the bastard today and I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill. How can I be a ninja if I can't kill? How can I dare look at my family's graves after I failed to avenge them? I let you kill him because I was too much of a coward to do it myself. I've failed them; I've failed my family."

Naruto placed a soothing hand on his friend's back as a lone tear rolled down Sasuke's pale face. Kakashi himself placed a soothing hand on Sasuke's head and a small fatherly kiss on the top of his head. Kakashi spoke, his voice weighed with all the tragedies he had seen and taken part in, "First off, don't you even think for a moment that you have failed your family. Just because you didn't kill the monster by your own hand does not mean you didn't avenge your loved ones. You made sure that everyone there heard exactly what befell your family. You looked that gutless man in the eye and you made him answer for not only what he did to your family, but what he did to you as well. So, as soon as you've settled, we will go to your family's graves together and you will hold your head up proudly and you will tell them that you have restored honor to their deaths."

Sasuke's body seemed to shudder and Naruto smiled, relieved, as he leaned into Kakashi's protective hold and accepted comfort. Backing away, Naruto left Sasuke to have a much needed private moment and decided to take a stroll through the village. Behind him, he could hear Kakashi continue his reassurances, "Sasuke, being unable to kill an unarmed and defenseless man does not make you an incapable ninja. The day killing becomes easy and unbothersome is the day that you need to leave the life for good. The fact is the first couple of kills are always the hardest and sometimes the hardest isn't always the first like they say..."

Closing the door behind him, Naruto sighed and walked slowly out of the tower. The last few days had been the most hectic of his life. Looking around, he realized that he hadn't even been able to enjoy seeing his village still standing, with everything going on. Looking at the villagers helping each other alongside their ninja protectors was truly a beautiful sight. He only wished that such destruction wasn't the reason for it. Sending some clones to help, he thought for a minute and sent one to the tower's biggest room as well.

His want to see the village was no excuse to remain lax in his duties. Seeing all of the rookies excluding Sasuke and him eating at the sushi place up ahead, Naruto walked up to join them. Sitting in an empty seat, he smiled as Shikamaru was the first to notice him. The pineapple-haired teen bestowed a lazy smile to him, "Hey Naruto. According to my Aunt Mai, you're the only reason she and sixteen others weren't killed at Sengakou's Medevac tent. So, on behalf of the Nara clan, I would like to give my thanks to your help. Now that the troublesome formalities are out of the way, what do you want to eat?"

Laughing at Shikamaru's disgruntled expression, Naruto placed his order. Sensing violence towards him, Naruto ducked, Sakura's fist missing him and hitting the immovable concrete. The girl screeched in pain and shook her hand, before glaring at him furiously, "How dare you?!'

"How dare I, what? How dare I not let you hit me? Despite what you believe, Sakura, you do not have a right to take your anger out on me, and as of right now, if you try again, I'll make sure you receive disciplinary action for assault. I'm a person, not your damn punching bag," Naruto retorted, annoyed at his team mate's constant abuse. He was the Hokage now and he wasn't going to stand for the disrespect any longer. He couldn't afford to look weak since he didn't have the skill others had.

The pink haired girl snarled, "I have every right to hit you! How dare you lie and take credit for what Sasuke did! Sasuke was the one to defeat that monster shinobi and save me! How dare you try to look better by lying?"

Around him, the rookies glared at the girl, including, surprisingly, Ino who would normally have joined the girl. Before any of them could express their anger at the girl, including himself, a blue haired, pink eyed woman in a jonin slammed her hand on the table next to them and stood, facing Sakura. Naruto realized the girl was in the know of his status, so he was wary at what the girl might say. Surely the Jonin had more self-control than to spout his status here? In the end, he didn't have to worry as the woman's soft but icy voice reached them, "First of all, Genin, you will act befitting your station. Look around you, half of the people here have lost their homes and are eating here with their children. Don't you dare mess up their quality time by throwing a temper tantrum! Second, girl, don't you dare say that your teammate lied. I, unlike you, saw what happened, as Gaara and he could be seen over the treetops. The only person I saw fighting the ninja was Uzumaki and I did not once see the Uchiha. I also read the reports, as they were initially turned into me. Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Subaku all stated that Naruto defeated him, so I suggest you get your facts straight before you start spewing your shit. Now, let me make myself very clear little girl, I know that you're nothing more than an inept fangirl. Quite frankly, I can't stand girls who join the corps so they can act like damsels in distress for boys their after. You and your kind get yourselves and others killed with your stunts and I, personally, think your lot should be kicked out like the useless garbage that you are."

With that, the woman stood and left the restaurant along with three Chunin, who were now glaring at the pinkette. Next to the shell-shocked and humiliated girl, Kiba spoke, his face stony, "I believe I couldn't have said that better, myself. Except, personally, I think you either need to give Naruto a much-needed apology and thanks for saving your ungrateful ass or you need to leave. Akamaru and I have no wish to share our food with someone who treats their teammate like trash like you do. Naruto saved dozens of lives during the invasion and I've seen him sending clones to help rebuild since then and he deserves better than the way you're treating him. What have you done, Sakura? Nothing more than act like a damsel in distress, as that lady called it. You didn't help during the invasion at all and you've done nothing during the rebuilding. All you've done is stalk Sasuke when he does his part and insult anyone who asks you for help. So fuck you, Sakura!"

Seeing the agreeing nods around her, Sakura seemed to fold into herself, ashamed, and she finally turned back to him. Red-faced, the girl met his eye, "They're right. Even that Jonin was right. I've not helped on any of our missions, and worse I realize that I have, in fact, endangered all of you on our missions. I've refused to train and I've treated you like you're beneath me, when, really, I'm the useless one. You saved me and I refused to accept it, and you deserve better than that. So, I guess I should say sorry for how I've treated you, in the past and in the present. Also, thank you for saving me. How about I go on that date you're always asking me on, huh?"

Looking thoughtfully at Sakura, Naruto finally nodded, satisfied that she was actually being sincere, "While I thank you for your apology, Sakura, I'm going to have to refuse the date. I'm just not interested and I've got things to do."

"Excuse me?! What do you mean you don't want to date me? You've been asking for over a year now," Sakura demanded, hands on her hips as she glared at him.

Around him, Naruto could see everyone staring at him incredulously, except for Shikamaru- who always seemed to know things about you before you did. Clearing his throat, Naruto answered, "Actually, Sakura, I stopped asking you out after we became teammates. I realized I really wasn't interested in you that way any longer."

"What do you mean; you're not interested in me any longer? You have, too, asked me out. What about three weeks ago after training?" Sakura demanded, confused and annoyed.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "First off, if you ever let me finish any of those requests you would find out that I was asking for a team dinner, and not a date. Thankfully, Sasuke, and on occasion Kakashi-Sensei, were more than willing to join."

Sakura resembled a fish as she gaped at him. Turning, he saw a slight hopeful gleam in Hinata's eye and the other's looked at him curiously. Feeling his clone in the tower pop, Naruto stood. The sky was darkening and he had no interest in hearing Hinata's stalker-ish confessions. He had discovered he was more interested in males after his kiss with Sasuke and a brief crush on Haku. He honestly felt too exhausted to turn Hinata down gently, so it was probably best he left. Giving everyone a brief goodbye, he headed back to his nice, comfortable couch. He swore he was going to skin the damn ninja who had decided to crush his apartment building to smithereens. Kami, he wanted his bed!

Naruto stood, stiff and alert, as he waited for the Root Nin to follow the command he had sent through his seal. Of course, the fifteen ninjas he sensed out of the village would be unable to answer, but he could see them later. Right now, all he wanted was to get a good look at all who was a part of the secretive organization and to start using their much-needed skills. Twenty minutes later, the last blank-faced nin arrived and Naruto signaled for one of his guards, Raidou, to close the doors. Around him and throughout the room stood the rest of his guard, which including Asuma, Genma, Gai, and an Anbu named Yamato.

"As many of you no doubt sensed, Danzo is dead and I now hold your seals. As of now, Root is disbanded and the recreation of it is considered treason. All of you will be joining the rest of our forces, whether it is as a regular ANBU or a Hunter-nin. Each and every one of you will be meeting with three Yamanaka's named Sitzu, Bachi, and Kyuoa so that your mental state can be assessed. Now, besides that, I want each of you to write out a file containing your name and any aliases you may have. I want a birthdate or at least an estimated age. It will contain your skills and any information about your history that I would need to know. If you can, please write down what Clan you come from and how you became a member of Root. I, then, want a summation of every mission you've undergone. Danzo used you to help Orochimaru attack the village that you are meant to be protecting. I, personally, want to know anything else that could hurt this village like that did. Any questions?" Naruto looked around the room to the calculating gazes of those around him. Counting, he found that there were fifty-seven people in the room. The youngest, he was relieved to see, seemed to be his age. No one spoke and Naruto worried just how much of their loyalty towards Danzo came from the seal. He hoped that not much did, though only time would tell.

Dismissing the ninja, he felt that that had been the most anti-climactic event he had experienced all week. Laughing to himself, he wondered how meeting the members of a traitor's army had been easier than anything he had done so far today. Now that the job was done, the guards in the room froze, puzzled, as the Naruto before them dispersed into smoke.

Settling on his couch, Naruto worried how his coronation would go tomorrow. Soon, his worries bled away and the blonde haired ninja's quiet snores filled the room.


	7. The Secret's Out

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, my lovely readers. Hope you like this next chapter.**

 **This will not be a harem fic, but Naruto will not automatically be with his one true love, either. He will date several people and he will explore his sexuality in this fic. Also, just because he breaks up with a character does not mean he will not eventually end up with them in the end. I, myself, don't know who he will end up with. I will say that at one time or another he will date Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Gaara. Though, Sasuke will be his first date due to an earlier reviewer getting a reward question correct.**

 **Also some have wished that I had started this story at the beginning of the deviation. Don't worry, you will not always wonder about how Naruto became who he is now. I will show flashbacks of him learning how to use shadow clones, the wave mission, and even parts of the chunnin exam.**

 **Sakura- I pretty much hate Sakura as I find her a spoiled brat who hits people when they disagree with her and feels entitled to get what she wants. Her treatment of Naruto is disgusting, but I actually find her treatment of Sasuke worse. She is a stalker: plain and simple. She follows him with no care for his feelings and she demands his love and attention without a care if it is something he wants. She knows nothing about him, personally, other than he is popular, rich, and cute. She wants him solely so she can get those things so all she is, is a gold-digger. Worse, she finds the murder of Sasuke's clan as something that makes him tragically mysterious. Basically, she finds something Sasuke sees as only traumatic as something that turns her on and I find that disgusting. Not only that, I find her constant demands for a date just plain rude. Naruto in the manga asked for a date maybe once a day or even once in a while. And most of the time it seemed less of him asking for a date and more of him trying to hang out with a possible friend. She, on the other hand, asks Sasuke constantly and never takes no for an answer for long and then follows him everywhere, even when he has said no. In real life, if she had done that or had been a man doing that she could have been in trouble for sexual harassment. Everyone rants about how mean Sasuke is to her, but I think she deserves it. If she can't accept the answer no then he is free to be mean to her for not respecting his decision. So I will bash her in this, but I will try to have the bashing change her into a mature ninja that loses a bit of her spoilt behavior. Sorry, rant over.**

 **Yukihime88: Sorry, but his position cannot stay secret. To do so would make it too easy for the council to give nin false orders and would breed distrust from his ninja.**

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Opening his eyes blearily, Naruto groaned at his temples' throbbing. Sitting up, he ignored his exhaustion in favor of glaring at the new stacks of paperwork on his desk. Looking at the clock, he saw it was only 7:34 and his coronation would be exactly at noon. Getting up, he stretched before making a couple of clones do his paperwork. They did as ordered and he turned back to the portraits and went to the Nidaime's instead of the Shodaime's. After waiting for the seal's scan to recognize him as the Hokage, he opened the secret door and entered. Walking down the endless stairs, he came to a wall of windows that let him see out but hid him from everyone else. Seeing no one in the hall, Naruto opened the panel to the passageway. Looking around, Naruto headed down the left hall towards the offices. Seeing the curious looks sent his way by the passing ninja, but not really acknowledging them, Naruto knocked on the door in front of him.

"Enter," a gravelly voice called.

Walking in, Naruto met the eyes of Ibiki the Monster and took a seat before him. Amused, the man chuckled at seeing him, "You know, when I said you could be looking forward to a promotion, this really wasn't what I had in mind."

Naruto laughed, suddenly reminded of what Ibiki had told him during the invasion. Once the last of his laughter left him, Naruto forced himself to get serious.

Ibiki's face became expressionless as he bowed his head slightly, "Hokage-sama, what, may I ask, brings you down to the depths of the Intelligence Division?"

After looking around at the surprising cozy office, Naruto met Ibiki's stare with his own, "I've finished reading your reports of the invasion and the aftermath. Is there anything you can tell me about the Sound Ninja and how they were recruited? Maybe even where their home village is?"

Standing, Ibiki went to one of his filing cabinets and rifled through them. Gathering a few, he dropped them within Naruto's reach as he sat back down. By reading them, Naruto saw that they were the records of the interrogations of three Sound Nin: Natsa Umu, Lin Zun, and Kei Rotsu. Meeting Ibiki's waiting gaze, Naruto asked, "There is no home village, just a sporadic group of bases?"

"Yes, it seems he has a head for each base that he meets and that answer to him. Most seem to be in the Land of Tea, but Lin Zun spoke of a base on an Island that Anko, my second in command, was found on. Also, they seemed to be recruited from all over the Nations. Some he won the adoration of, while others he has threatened into joining him," The scarred man answered as he settled deeper into his chair.

Naruto sighed in frustration. Orochimaru's layout was quite clever for his purpose. It was much harder for them to keep an eye on him if they had to discover every one of his bases. War could very well be coming from the Snake Sannin and as of right now they were at a huge disadvantage. They could not eliminate a threat that they couldn't see. What's worse was that the man knew the ins and outs of their village and had already shown that he was willing to use it. Right now, the only way they could find the bases that only Orochimaru and maybe a few others knew of was if the man showed them himself. Shoving the thought aside, Naruto suddenly had an idea. Grinning inwardly, he thought that Tazuna would definitely have a busy time working for them.

Handing the files back, Naruto and Ibiki talked about other matters until Naruto felt a signal from the seals on his office going off. Giving a swift goodbye, Naruto stood and headed back to see who was waiting at the entrance. Closing the Nidaime's Portrait, Naruto dismissed his clones and sat down at his desk. Allowing entrance of those outside, he smiled slightly at seeing the 'Eternal Chunin' as they called themselves.

Kotetsu and Izumo froze as they saw who, exactly, was sitting at the desk. Izumo gaped, "Naruto?! You're the Hokage? I thought for sure that I would see Danzo or Shikaku behind there!"

Naruto grinned, "Shikaku washed his hands of the position and Danzo is indisposed if you will."

"I didn't know the old Warhawk was in the hospital. Though, with the state of things it will be a while before we all know the particulars. So, how exactly did you get the position?" Kotetsu asked.

Naruto smirked and shrugged, "Most likely I was chosen because the shinobi council thought I would be easy to control. My age, plus my actions during the invasion, apparently made me their perfect candidate. That's too bad for them, as I have no intention on being their figurehead. Though, the Elders, who I believe wanted me in position for that purpose, don't seem as disappointed by my independence as they could have been. Koharu even seems to like me. Now, as much as I enjoy talking to you both, I have things I need to do today. So, your report, please?"

Immediately, the two grew serious and bowed before giving their report, "We are glad to report the mission a success, Hokage-sama. Frankly, if they were all able, I believe everyone in the Land of Waves would have come here to help. As it is, the man named Tazuna, who also seems to be their new mayor, has arrived with fifty-seven workers. His people are already surveying the village and he, himself, is waiting outside to meet with you."

"Good job on your mission. You know where to get your pay, so send Tazuna in on your way out. Dismissed," Naruto said as he waited for Tazuna to come in.

Smiling a little smugly as the shape tongued bridge builder came in, Naruto let loose his laughter as Tazuna choked at the sight of him behind the desk. Seeming to finally snap out of his shock, Tazuna stared at him with suspicion, "What the hell are you doing here, brat?!"

"Well, Tazuna, you know how you swore that you'd give up sake the day I became Hokage? Hope you like your future dry spell," Naruto replied as he snickered at Tazuna's paling features.

"Congratulations, brat, but I'm an old man and my memories a little faulty. I can't seem to recall ever making such a blasphemous promise to quit drinking the wonderful wonders of sake," Tazuna spoke, grinning.

Naruto let himself laugh for a moment before he grew serious and the two got down to business.

After Tazuna left to start on their plans, Naruto checked the time. Paling, he realized he only had a half an hour to get ready and arrive at the courtyard before the Hokage Monument. Hurrying, he unsealed the new outfit that he had bought an hour before his fight with Neji. He had been wandering around to kill time when he had found a store called Ninja Outfitters. There, he had found numerous ninja clothing and weapons.

While he had worn his post-academy outfit to his fight with Neji, he had, thankfully, sealed his new purchases on him. Unlike the rest of his possessions, the things hadn't been destroyed in the fires of the invasion. His post academy outfit hadn't changed too much from his old orange jumpsuit, with just a color reversal. His jacket had switched to have orange on his shoulders and blue on his midsection though the orange had been a darker shade. His pants had also been blue like his jacket, instead of orange. His new one varied a good deal.

Slipping on his undershirt, a blue long-sleeved tunic that had mesh interwoven into it, Naruto adjusted it hurriedly. Shedding his old pants, he slid into a pair of black pants that was made of some kind of flexible hide. Their thickness would make it harder for thrown weapons to sink into his legs, but they weren't stiff, which would make it too hard to move. Grabbing his dark orange wrap, he wound it on his upper thigh before buttoning the straps of his kunai holster over it. Putting a few sealed scrolls and medical supplies into his pants various pockets, he slipped on his orange double belts.

On the bottom belt, he tied on his multiple kunai, shuriken, and senbon pouches. On the top belt, he placed tiny sealing scrolls into already built-in pouches for them. In two pouches, he placed spools of wire instead of scrolls. Tucking in his shirt, he threw on his coat. It was black with an orange version of his clan's symbol on the back. It also came with the shoulder swirl patch on the shoulder that had a whistle attached. Inside the jacket, there were several pockets. Bending, he tightened his sandals and stood.

Nodding to himself, he leaped out of his window and headed straight for the Hokage Mountain. At the town courtyard in front of the mountain, he could already see hundreds of civilians and ninjas standing before a wooden stage. On the stage stood both councils with the elders on either side of an empty chair. Looking around, Naruto felt his elation vanish and be replaced with sadness. Normally, the inauguration of a Hokage was a festival event filled with booths of food and games. The Yondaime, his father, had even scheduled a troop of fire dancers to liven up the event.

Looking around, all Naruto could see was the exhausted faces of both adults and children. There really wasn't anything that could be done with the lack of fanfare. Restaurants were already overworked feeding all those who had lost their homes and just couldn't handle the stress of catering a festival. Not to mention that everyone was needed to help rebuild and bury the dead, so no one had time to decorate or even manage a few booths for the children. Hiring outside the village was out of the question. Even with Konoha's victory, no outsider felt confident enough in the village to travel to it, and those that would couldn't be trusted. The only ones brave enough would, undoubtedly, be spies.

Shunshining to the empty seat, Naruto sat down, ignoring the surprised gasps and shouts from the villagers. Observing the faces around him, Naruto was surprised by the lack of hostility. Even with everyone having a change of heart due to his actions in the invasion, Naruto had still expected for at least half of those around him to be glaring hatefully. Instead, he could only pick twenty-one 'demon-haters' out there. The rest of the expressions varied from confusion to shock. There were worried, and even a few suspicious looks. Meeting the eyes of those he knew, he nearly laughed. For the first time in his life, Naruto could see the utter shock on Shikamaru's face. Choji had even committed a clan sin by dropping a bag of chips. The chubby nin's mouth was agape. Ino, instead of reprimanding Choji to close his mouth, was tugging on Asuma's jacket and pointing at him.

Kiba was turning red and he had grabbed onto Shino's jacket as he shouted. Straining his ears, Naruto could hear bits of his rant, "Naruto...Fucking Kidding me... I could...better Hokage...their crazy!"

Shino looked as nonchalant as always, much to Naruto's disappointment. Naruto barely held back his grimace as he met the obsessive eyes of Hinata. He had always thought Hinata was weird and it wasn't because she constantly fainted when near him. His opinion came solely because she stalked him. He didn't know how many times he had to force himself to act oblivious to her presence every time he spotted her peeking at him from around a corner or from behind a tree. Once, he had come home and he could actually smell her lavender scented shampoo in his damn bedroom. He was still missing one of his shirts and he knew it had to be her who took it.

When he was nine, he got so terrified with her constant snooping in his apartment and stalking, he had actually talked to the Hokage. While humored at first, the man had grown furious after hearing about how the heiress had broken into his apartment, a place that not even the villagers dared to go. Naruto didn't know what the man had done; all he knew was that the only time the girl came near him again was to spy on him at the academy training grounds.

Now looking at her, he could see surprise and happiness at hearing his new status. While he could be thankful for her acceptance, he still wanted to almost edge away from her gaze. Inhaling deeply, he looked to Sakura's face. His old crush was red in the face as she tugged on Sasuke's shirt. He couldn't hear her hissed whispers, but whatever it was had angered Sasuke, as the boy spat something back at her. The girl flinched, looking near tears, and Sasuke moved onto the other side of Kakashi.

He was drawn from his thoughts by Koharu stepping up to the podium. Instead of her usual wear, the elderly woman was wearing a white juban. Over it was blue kimono with leaves floating upward from the bottom and the sleeves. Each leaf had a red flame burning its tip. At her waist was a simple white obi makura. In her bun, she had a small, fan-shaped kanzashi. It was white and Naruto could make out an engraved symbol of the leaf village. The hanging part of the kanzashi was tiny red jewels shaped like flames. Right were the pin went through her hair was a small ring of leaves.

Naruto smiled softly at her attire; the woman certainly knew how to proclaim her allegiance to her village. He waited as the woman held up a hand to silence the crowd. Once the square was quiet, she spoke, "Hello, my fellow villagers. I must say that after the recent tragedy and upheaval, it is heartening to see so many lively faces around me. Sadly, our past Hokage, the Sandaime and a man that I saw as a friend, has left this realm to explore a new one. Hiruzen Sarutobi was an inspiration to us all and a fearless leader, who led us through two wars and, in the end, sacrificed his life to protect us all. He will be deeply missed and I hope that he is at peace, wherever he may be."

As she paused, Naruto bowed his head in the respectful silence that had followed. Raising his head in sync with all those around him, he waited for Koharu to continue as she drained half a glass of her medicine-laced water, "Though his passing and the others' who gave their lives in the invasion is a tragedy, we must not let it defeat us. We are Konoha and we will carry on and weather this storm like we have done before. That said, due to recent events, we need a new Hokage to lead us through this time and carry us through it. All of you have noticed the young man behind me, and you are correct that he is the Hokage I'm speaking about."

Murmurs from the crowd caused her to stop. The jounin stayed silent and bowed their heads respectfully to him. They had known of his position days ago and his actions since had tentatively earned their respect. Of course, executing a traitor and getting a quick handle of the day to day job like he had could do that. Not to mention his actions in the invasion had earned him a certain amount of respect and trust to begin with.

The chunin seemed divided. While they had known that the Hokage had been chosen days ago and had been the one giving them their missions lately, they had not known that it was him doing so. Some seemed receptive to him due to how well he had done the last couple of days, but others stared uncertainly. His age, experience, and lack of skill was a major strike against him that left many of them wondering at his ability. The genin looked either jealous at him getting such a position or they looked at him with awe. There were a few that looked doubtful, but they kept their silence.

Glancing back over at his team, he inwardly sighed; Sakura's silence seemed to be forced as he saw Kakashi's hand over her mouth. Sasuke's glare finally shut her up and Naruto allowed his gaze to roam the villagers themselves. The children were in awe, as none of them could imagine someone so young being their leader. As for the adults, their feelings varied. While a few seemed accepting, most were doubtful, hateful, or indigent.

Once the crowd was back under control, she continued as if she had never stopped to begin with, "I, myself, was one of the people who voted for him. I was hesitant at first. Sure, this genin had charisma and he seemed to truly understand that the Hokage job wasn't just a frivolous title to proclaim his superiority like many before him have thought but was that enough of a reason to have him as a Hokage? Since then, any doubt I had he has soothed away. When he accepted the position, he could have lazed with his paperwork and taken advantage of the fact that he could access the Hokage Library. He could have been absorbed with getting powerful and abandoned his duties to this village. Inste-"

Koharu staggered back, shakily, as she entered into a coughing fit. Reaching for her glass, her gasps for air caused her to clumsily knock over the glass. Standing, Naruto approached her with her teammate Homura. He braced her, letting her lean onto him, as the other elder poured another vial of liquid down her throat. With Naruto half carrying her to her seat to rest, Homura continued from where Koharu left off.

He, unlike his Koharu, was dressed in his usual manner and as he spoke he righted his tilted glasses, "What my lovely fellow Elder was saying is that, instead Uzumaki has done more by this village than I could have hoped. Unlike the last Hokage's, he did not have any experience with all that would be required from him. To our surprise, he has adapted quite well. Within a day, our ninjas were already out doing missions, proving that this invasion would not set us back. He has also contacted an ally of his to help rebuild the village, as many of you noticed this morning."

Homura paused to let his words sink in as he surreptitiously glanced to see how Koharu was taking her previous bout. Naruto, having noticed, nodded to him as he comforted the woman. Homura continued, "Most importantly is that yesterday Naruto uprooted (pun intended) a traitor in our midst. A traitor that I once thought I knew. While I have always known that this man had wanted the Hokage position, I had thought he had put his ambition behind him many years ago. I was wrong, as this man helped Orochimaru in his invasion. He helped kill our Hokage and our people, all so he could receive the Hokage position. Many-"

Screams of outrage interrupted him. A genin who was wearing a cast shouted, his voice filled with worry and grief, "Who?! What fucking bastard would help that monster attack us? My teammates died in the invasion! Who is responsible?!"

A jounin grabbed the struggling nin from behind and hugged him until only his sobs could be heard. Throughout the crowd, similar remarks could be heard. Speaking over them, Homura answered, "Many of you have probably noticed that there is a chair missing from the council behind me. That is not by accident. Danzo Shimura was executed for treason by order of our Godaime Hokage yesterday."

While Naruto had noticed that some of the doubtful people had seemed to gain confidence in him throughout Homura's speech, Homura's last proclamation caused a few cheers in the crowd and several of his people now looked at him as if they were almost proud. Shaking himself from his observations, he nodded for Homura to continue, "I, Homura Mitokado and advising Elder of the Council, call Naruto Uzumaki forward to take his oath."

Standing, Naruto walked towards the man as the elder pulled out a summoning scroll. Halting before the man, Naruto held his hands behind him and watched as the formal Hokage hat and robes were summoned out. Holding them, Homura met his gaze firmly as he spoke, "Do you, Naruto Uzumaki, solemnly promise to follow your oath to rule the People of Konohagakure fairly and to the best of your abilities?"

Bowing his head slightly, Naruto answered, "I so swear."

"Do you swear to protect this village to the best of your abilities and even with your life, if need be?"

"I so swear."

"Do you swear to never betray Konoha and its people and that you will use your power over the ninja of Konohagakure wisely and in its best interest?"

"I so swear," Naruto said, his voice serious as Homura placed the hat on his head and helped him into the robe.

Once done, Homura crossed his arm over his chest, "Then, with the power vested in me by the Daimyo of Fire, I declare Naruto Uzumaki the Godaime Hokage."

Cheers erupted in the crowd from the standing children and rowdier ninja. Homura kneeled on one knee while his other stayed bent. Hand still over his chest, he bowed his head and spoke, "I, Elder Advisor Homura Mitokado, do hereby offer my fealty and loyalty to the Godaime Hokage. I pledge that I will enforce the Godaime's Will and that I will follow his orders and his orders only."

Placing his hand on the back of the head, which showed ultimate trust as there was nothing stopping him from snapping the man's neck, Naruto replied, "I, the Godaime Hokage, accept your oath and ask that you stand beside me."

At once, Homura stood and placed himself to Naruto's left just slightly behind him. Koharu then stepped forward and a similar scene played out though she took up a position on his right instead. Next up was Hiashi Hyuuga. Getting in the same position that the Elder's had gotten into, he spoke, "I, Hiashi Hyuuga, the Clan Leader of the Hyuuga Clan, pledge my allegiance and that of my clan to the Godaime Hokage."

Accepting his oath and the rest of the councils, Naruto stepped forward towards the podium, leaving the council standing formally behind him. Looking around at his people, Naruto spoke, his voice having a quality that made the villagers eager to listen, "This would be the moment where I'm supposed to give you a rallying speech that will lead you into prosperity or something to that effect. Unfortunately, unlike my predecessors I just don't have the talent with words that they had. What can I say; my vocabulary is just not up to par with the wisdom that seemed to resonate from the Sandaime."

Naruto smiled sheepishly and shrugged at the chuckles that swept through the crowd. Smiling warmly, he continued, "While I don't believe it's in me to give you a speech that will later be analyzed in the history books, I will tell you just what has inspired me, and that is you. You have all inspired me. All of you have held your heads up high. You have shown those that would see us fall that we will not let this beat us. Every single one of you has worked together. Squabbling neighbors and rivals alike have put your disagreements behind you and you've carried us forward. All of you have shown selflessness, compassion, and a true determination to not falter- to not break. All of you have shown that the Will of Fire burns in every single one of us. To me, there cannot be a greater inspiration than knowing that, and you have my thanks for showing me such an amazing sight."

He paused as he watched some of the people slap each other on the back or even hugged one another. What truly caught his attention were not the smiles on their faces or even the laughter that reached his ears. What drew him was the look in their eyes. They looked almost invigorated. He felt a certain amount of confidence from that. He had never dreamed that anything he said would be taken seriously. He had truly thought that everyone would scoff at him. Instead, his words were giving life back to eyes that had shown nothing but exhaustion lately. He was inspiring them and he honestly couldn't believe it.

"First off, I would like to tell you of the things that you should expect to see in the future. I've hired a construction company from Wave who will be helping to rebuild our home. Their leader and I talked this morning and he has given me a timeline of when they will be done. The construction should be finished in two months, but I should warn you that there will be changes in the look of Konoha. Since Orochimaru knows our defenses due to the traitor and his own time here, I will be implementing changes to them. All patrols throughout fire nation will be reexamined by my available strategists and they will be reconfigured. I have taken up my clan's practice of studying seals, and I will use that knowledge to help in our defense in any way possible. Next time Orochimaru comes, we will not be sending them back licking their wounds. Next time, we will make them regret the day they so much as even looked at us," Naruto spoke, his voice hard.

Everyone, especially the ninja, looked eager at the news and looking around Naruto could see that some of the children were getting tired. Deciding to wrap this up, he continued, "Looking around, I can't help but apologize that the usual festival all of you would be enjoying right now is impossible. So, right now I promise you that, when the rebuilding is done, I will give you the best festival possible to celebrate it. I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to protect you and I will see us achieve as much prosperity as I can give you."

As everyone cheered at the news of a festival, Naruto used the moment to shunshin back to the Hokage tower.


	8. Hiruzen Sarutobi's Judgement

**A/N: Sorry for late update. I decided to try dating recently and after being stood up three times by two different guys. I decided that it'll happen in time and I should focus on different matters. lol**

 **A/N: THIS ISNT BETAED. I WILL REPOST THIS LATER WHEN SHE SENDS ME THE EDIT. OH THANKS REVIEWER FOR TELLING ME ABOUT MY BAD SUMMARY.**

 **GarionRiva- thank you for the compliment. I am sorry that this won't be a harem, because I don't think I could write it. Also to me Naruto is the one capable of getting pregnant due to his transformation jutsu. Him having multiple husbands to rebuild a clan just wouldn't making sense. A guy can have multiple wives to build up his family cause he can get multiple girls prego at the same time. A person can not get pregnant with multiple men's babies at the same time. But Naruto will date multiple men before finding the right one.**

 **Yukihime- thanks for liking my speech I admit I was worried that it might be cheesy when I wrote it. Hope you got a good grade on your speech at school.**

 **Waldo Santiago- Thx for the review. I have always dislike the Hinata pairing, but worse I've always hated how some writers make Naruto think he has to fall in love with her just because she loved him. Like he owed her his feelings. Not to mention people hate on fangirls for their stalking yet no one says anything about Hinata basically doing the same to Naruto. I don't plan on bashing her but there will be a chapter in the future of him turning her down that may seem harsh.**

 **Kami no Kage-Sama- There is no set pairing at the moment. Though Sasuke is who he will have his first date with due to a reward for a reviewer earlier. Gaara will be Kazekage and I don't know about Konohamaru yet.**

 **Kigen Dawn- Srry there will be no Kurama love.**

 **Yuuki56- The council can't blab village secrets and so far only they and Sasuke know of Itachi's innocence. He is to valuable of an informant to pardon immediately. Also outside events will sort of stay on timeline. So there is still a three year wait until the Akatsuki attack. Anything more you need to read the story.**

 **Twisted Pxi- I plan not to bash any character unless their the civilian council. ;). Sakura will eventually change though she will slide back in her behavior at points. Also I warn you that Hinata's obsession of Naruto will be addressed though I have no plans to bash her either. Also there will be those in the story who will want to marry Naruto for his position or power. They will get verbally flayed. That said I'm going to do my best not to cross over into the bashing area. Though I admit an intense dislike of canon Sakura and Hinata.**

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Back in the Tower Naruto decided it was high time he actually focused at getting stronger. He might now have the paperwork part of his job down and cut the council the strings the council had woven into his position, but now that he was known as the Hokage he needed to get powerful quickly or end up assassinated. Making clones he prepared to send them to train.

Absently he remembered how he started using the clones to train to begin with.

 **-Flashback Begins-**

Naruto laid in his bed exhausted. Al day the events of the night he became a genin had replaying in his head. He felt like he was missing something, but thinking over what happened two days ago made him no closer to whatever what was bothering him. Repeating the events one more time he wondered why his mind always seemed to pause a second too long on his memory of breaking Mizuki's jaw. Naruto bolted upright in his bed. Finally he knew what was bothering him. How did he remember breaking Mizuki's jaw? That night he had made his clones kick the bastard's ass while he checked to make sure Iruka was okay. Unless... Naruto created a clone. The clone immediately walked out towards the kitchen. Five seconds later Naruto yelped clutching his hand. Realizing the pain wasn't real he saw that his hand was unblemished. Yet he clearly remembered walking to the kitchen and turning on the stove burner. He remembered grabbing a hold of it

Naruto grinned. He had his clones memories, then as soon as the grin came it went. Sure the fact made the clones perfect for espionage. But right now he would have to get much stronger before he would even be able to get a mission that he could use it on. As it stood now he knew he was nothing more than a deadlast. He flushed in humiliation as he remembered Konohamaru correcting his pronunciation of the word chakra.

He had felt so stupid at that moment and he guessed that had been his teachers' goal. Most would blame his cluelessness on his own laziness and hyperactivity. The truth is that like many things it wasn't as cut and dry as that. Anyone who went to the academy was either tutored how to read and write before they went or they went to a public civilian school. Naruto had been barred to attend a school and he guessed the Hokage never thought about having him tutored.

When he had entered the Academy his teachers had found out and soon after the Academy became focused less on practical skills and more intellectual knowledge. He had soon tried to enter the Library after that so he could teach himself, but due to his civilian status they like the public schools were allowed to forbid him from entering.

Reminiscing Naruto pushed away his thoughts and smiled. He was a ninja now and only the Hokage could forbid him from entering a public establishment. He could enter the library and finally catch up with his peers. Hell his new jutsu could have him surpassing his peers within months. Giddy Naruto went to bed with a true smile on his face for the first time in his life.

 **-Scene Change in Flashback and no Naruto has no memories of this event-**

 **Seven days later and one week before Teams meet each other**

 **Hokage's Office the second reign of Hiruzen Sarutobi**

Hiruzen flared his killer intent at the three men before him. His voice was bland as he spoke, "A week ago, Naruto Uzumaki figured out that he could get memory and chakra transference from the Shadow Clone Kinjutsu. I assumed that he would have them filling up the Ninja Library and I even had a medical ninja on standby in case his regeneration abilities were not able to cope with his mental stress. I even set an extra guard on the higher ranked sections so he wouldn't get into information above his rank.

You can imagine my surprise when it was reported to me that he hadn't even entered the ninja section of the library. Instead according to the library records he has checked out everything on learning how to read and write. Not only that I've found that the Library barred him entrance when he was seven years old. Keito-san, do you mind explaining to me how Naruto doesn't know how to read or write? Especially when I have several reports written by you about how fast Naruto picked up those skills. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I order you to tutor Naruto in these matters when he was four years old?"

Keito paled and started sweating as more killer Intent was focused on him. Beside him Iruka looked as if he had just remembered something important and on Iruka's left the head of the Academy, a retired chunin, swallowed.

"I-I forged the reports, Hokage-sama. H-he's the container of the demon so I thought it would be best if he was too stupid to turn on us," Keito licked his lips nervously. Suddenly he gasped in pain and fell to his knees. He was clutching his now broken arm. Beside him the other two froze in shock. The Hokage was now holding a bo-staff. It was clear that the Hokage had broken Keito's arm and yet they hadn't even seen him move let alone summon the weapon.

Hiruzen glared coldly and his tone matched his icy gaze, "I see. So you thought it would be best to turn your back on your assigned mission and fake reports to me. Not only did you betray your duties as a Konoha nin you also provided false intelligence. You have betrayed the corps but more importantly you have betrayed me as your Hokage. You sabotaged the schooling of a future protector of this village and in doing so sabotaged Konoha's defenses. You thought it would be best to make Konoha's junchurikki 'too stupid' to betray us, huh? Did it ever cross your small mind that all you were doing was encouraging him to betray us? You are damn lucky that Naruto is too good hearted towards all of you prejudiced idiots. As it is I believe it is time for you to remember that it is your place to obey your Hokage not question him. Rat-san, take Keito to Inochi for reconditioning."

Keito soon found himself knocked out and carried over the shoulder of an Anbu. Shunshined out Hiruzen turned his gaze to Iruka, "You were among Naruto's teachers. Now I can guess why the other teachers failed to provide Naruto a proper education. That is why they are already in Ibiki's tender care at the moment. You on the other hand I wanted an explanation from. I've done a thorough check of the Academy records in accordance to Naruto. Mind explaining why Naruto was kicked out of classes constantly for disrupting them? I might have thought nothing of it with my knowledge of Naruto's pranking habits. Funny thing is that I know Naruto didn't start pranking until two years after he started being kicked out of classes. Explain."

Iruka nodded barely keeping himself standing as the killer intent focused solely on him. His face showed nothing but shame, "You spoke to me many times on seeing Naruto as something more that than they Kyuubi reborn. For many years I treated him just like my colleagues. We found out within the first week that he couldn't read nor write. We used it against him. It wan't until this last year that I finally realized that I had been condemning an innocent child. By than the damage had already been done. Worse with his now constant skipping I was never able nor trusted to help him. Eventually I even made myself believe that it was his own inattention that caused him to be behind his classmates and not my own actions. Worse I assumed that by then he already learned how to read and write given that he seemed to understand the written exams to an extent. I guess I was wrong and he's only picked up bits and pieces."

Hiruzen observed the chunin's now bowed head for a moment before speaking. His disappointment and disgust clear in his voice, "You and your friends on staff have terrorized a child for something he has had no control over. He didn't get the choice to sacrifice himself for this village. Something you take for granted as you chose to become a ninja. To protect this village and nation from all threats foreign and domestic. Naruto was just the unfortunate baby who was born that night and had the monster of our nightmares sealed inside of him. Now I can understand a civilian questioning his humanity. They have ignorance as their excuse. Ninja on the other hand are all taught the fundamentals of sealing. You know the difference between a scroll and a kunai."

Iruka flinched and beside him, Tai Fubiaki, actually seemed to realize how much trouble he was in. Hiruzen ignored their reactions and continued, "Iruka you will spend the remaining week with Anko. She will be happy to show you how being treated badly by others displeases her. Then when the week is over you will run into Naruto and properly teach him as you were supposed to. Let me make something very clear. You will teach him at his pace and however he learns best. That means if he finds your lectures boring you will change your style to make it interesting to him. This time you will take responsibility instead of blaming the victim just because your too lazy to do your job properly. I think it is a fitting punishment for you to teach Naruto alongside your classes."

"S-sir," Iruka spoke forcing himself to continue as the Hokage frowned, "How will I be able to teach him when I'll be at the academy for the majority of my day?"

Hiruzen regarded the chunin with a raised brow, "You have enough chakra for one shadow clone a day. I suggest you get real friendly with the medical staff as you will visit them quiet frequently for your mental and chakra exhaustion. Now I suggest you go find Anko before she finds you Iruka. You should never keep a lady waiting."

Iruka bowed lowly before rushing out of the room. Now with only Tai in the room the Hokage showed his true anger. Tai collapsed gasping for air as killer intent overwhelmed his senses. Tai felt a brief pain on his shoulder and fell onto his back. Before he could get up he felt the Hokage's bo-staff at his throat, "Want to know something that interests me, Fubiaki? When I controlled the Academy most part of a student's grade relied on the physical and tactical aspects of their education. Now I've read dozens of reports on Naruto's pranking and I've seen him in action as well. From this I know that Naruto has a keen tactical mind. I also know he is more than efficient with a kunai or many physical skills. I will admit that his taijutsu form isn't the greatest though his speed, flexibility, and stamina more than makes up for his shortcomings in that area or at least for now they do. So I find it really odd for him to be considered the deadlast in his class. His reading and writing would have kept him from having one of the top ten ratings, but he shouldn't of very well been last. Mind explaining that for me?"

"I-I was paid by some of the civilian council to sabotage Naruto Uzumaki. I made sure his written exams were worth more of his grade. T-the council pointed Koharu towards me as a possible candidate to take over the academy. She fell for it and brought me to your attention," Tai seemed to remember just why pissing off his Hokage was so bad for his health as he felt both his kneecaps bust. Writhing in agony he cursed his own arrogance. It seemed that his ten years as a civilian after he retired had given him bad habits. When he was a ninja he realized he would have never have taken the council on their offer.

If the retired chunin had thought his frigid anger was terrifying it had nothing on his fiery one. Hiruzen's voice was thunderous, "Not only did you take over the academy for treasonous reasons. You also took bribes! You sabotaged one of my future ninjas, but worse you did so for money and not prejudice. Let me make something very clear. I am going to do a complete investigation of the Academy under your tenure. If I find that your actions have hurt this village in any way I will sentence you to a life as the torture squads guinea pig. For the next six months I will personally investigate you. As for now I hope you like your next month as Ibiki's, Anko's, and Inochi's plaything. Squid get him the hell out of my office!"

Sealing his weapon away Hiruzen sat down in his chair exhausted. Waving his hand he dismissed his remaining guards and pulled out a bottle of sake. Thinking of Naruto he felt immense guilt fill him. He remembered Naruto complaining of his teachers when he was younger. He had ignored them thinking them nothing but the regular complaints he had heard his son make as a child. All this time he had never even checked up on Naruto's treatment. No he had been too busy keeping ahead of the council and wallowing in his mistakes.

When his beloved wife had died he had first put his irrational decisions down to his grief. Later he had realized that his mind wasn't as clear as it used to be. All his life he had been revered for his intellect. He was called The Professor for a reason. Lately he had been second guessing his every decision due to his mental deterioration. He had also decided to not mention a word of his problem in his journals in fear that it could be used against future Hokages. If it was known that his mind wasn't as clear as it used to be then any future decision a Hokage made would be questioned and worse the council could order a mental checkup giving them too much power.

If any of his decisions were irrational ones it would be better if others thought him merely malicious than unstable. Worst he didn't even know if this would be the decision he would make if his mind was clear. All he knew was that if anyone did know then they would push for another Hokage and he just didn't have any candidates and that would give Danzo the chance to take control. Most of his powerful nins were needed too much in the field to tie them to a desk and the only one who could be spared he couldn't trust in the position. When he had originally sent Hayate to find Tsunade he had planned to train either her or him up for his position, but do to Tsunade's actions he knew that avenue was closed now.

Not only had she harmed a candidate making him unable to succeed him she had also helped murder her own people by not returning to perform her duties. That made her ineligible even if she came back. He thought of all the S and A class nin but many like Yugao and Kakashi were needed to badly to be considered not to mention Kakashi himself was too mentally scarred for the job. Chuckling slightly he realized his only prospect was Naruto Uzumaki.

The boy already understood the position to an extent and in a few years he would have the needed experience for it. He had more than enough chakra and he had more potential than anyone he had ever seen. Knowing now how handicapped he had been Hiruzen truly wondered at the kid's untapped genius. Even with his lack of knowledge the kid was able to avoid village patrols and paint the monument unnoticed. Then he avoided capture until he let himself get caught by Iruka. Hiruzen knew it wasn't by chance that the chunin had caught the child.

Hiruzen sighed. If Naruto was his only promising candidate then he would have to hold on for a few more years and he honestly didn't know if he could. His mind felt so foggy over the last few years that he had been willing to do terrible things to his people to avoid war. He knew that he could not win another war and he sent Hizashi and the Uchiha one last silent apology.

Thinking of the Uchiha he felt bile rise in his throat. While he had wanted the clan gone in his want for revenge he knew that hadn't been his only reason no matter what he wrote in his journal. The truth is if he had saved their clan a civil war would have broken out as many ninjas felt gratitude to the Uchiha clan. As it was that clan that gave Konoha it's teamwork ideal and supplied jutsus to those that did not have access to clan libraries. While he could have dealt with it he knew that it would have led to the Fourth War. How could he write in his journal that it was his fear of war that led him to allowing the slaughter of children? It was better that he was thought vengeful and misguided than weak.

Yet even as he thought that some part of him rebelled at the thought as if he instinctively knew that it was his madness that led to their slaughter not his fear. Gulping down half of his bottle of sake he stared at his piles of paperwork and wondered at how he would even have the time to investigate the academy's coarse load. Just fifteen years ago he would have made a clone to do inspect the academy and he might have even have added another to help him in here if he was feeling daring. Then he would have had his beloved wife heal his mind as he dispelled his clones keeping him from overwhelming his mind.

Now he had no wife handy with medical jutsu and worse with his mind feeling like swiss cheese. He didn't trust himself to handle the information burst from even one clone. The chances of his mind fracturing from the stress was just too likely to chance it.

 **-Flashback Ends-**

Shaking himself from his thoughts Naruto started giving orders to his clones. Soon thirty of his clones were back in the Hokage library checking up on village information like past missions and enemy information. Ten of his clones got to work on his paperwork and one was sent to start handing out missions. Ten he sent out to practice chakra control exercises he already knew and he made ten more search the library for more control exercises.

That done he had clones research jutsu both in the Hokage and regular nin library. Sending his last few clones to study sealing he walked out of his office. For the first time he actually studied the woman who was his secretary. Hisa Hirotsu was the one who had been getting his paperwork and from her file she knew she was a retired jounin from the interrogation unit. Her chakra coils had been damaged in the last war and she had a severe limp from helping evacuate children during the Kyuubi attack. Absently he remembered her as the woman who always made sure that the Hokage was free so he could visit gramps when he was younger.

Sensing him the emerald haired and blue eyed woman bowed as she stood to greet him. Raising from her bow the woman questioned him her voice was deep though still clearly female, "What can I do for you, Godaime-Sama?"

"I have clones working on paperwork inside and I've sent one off to give out missions. During this time I'm going to be in training ground twenty-three. I need to get to work on improving myself now that I understand my job better. If anyone needs me send them that way, but only if it is pressing. Also can you schedule a council meeting in three days. I have some things to go over with them and unless I'm occupied please give Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kakashi permission to enter my office when the real me is there. Is there anything you've been wanting to ask me, Hisa-san?"

Hisa nodded as she started checking her appointment books, "Yes, How do you want me to prioritize meetings for you?"

"Do not let individual civilians through unless they explain their reasons to you and if you find them important enough to let them through. If an individual nin demands entrance do not let them in unless they are calm. I do not want to get into the habit of appearing to bend to the whims of others. Intelligence nin get primary priority and you have my permission to demand the reasons of anyone else asking for an appointment. Prioritize them however you feel best. Oh if Tazuna, the architect, comes allow him through if I'm free," Naruto answered hoping he covered everything.

She nodded and went back to work. Nodding himself he headed towards the training grounds. There he created five clones. To three he gave a leaf, "One of you will try cutting the leaf with your chakra by manipulating it into wind. You will try to set fire to your leaf and you will try to burn it with electricity."

Turning to the other two he had one gather dirt in their palms and the other he sent to stand in the water, "I want you to get the dirt to clump together until you have a clay rock and your job is to get water splash with only your chakra."

Watching them work he wished he could make more to hurry the process, but he had learned that was useless due to his past experience with clones. Right now they all would learn at the same pace as they wouldn't have any foreknowledge on how to do this. Once his five clones made headway he could create more to learn more about the technique. He had originally wanted to learn this during his month before the exam finals. Though meeting Jiraiya had altered his plans.

Turning from his clones he reacitvated his gravity seals he had placed on himself two months ago and he started on his physical workout.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I'm putting this in the story to explain things so that you don't skip reading this at the bottom of the page. I thought I would show you a bit about Sarutobi so that you would see that he like many things is n't back and white. He is neither evil or good by a complex character. Okay the horror of the Kyuubi attack coupled with his age and loss of his wife has made him lose his mental clarity slightly.**

 **For a man who has always been celebrated for his keen mind this is a major emotional and mental blow. He isn't insane nor does he have dementia. Basically he is losing a little of his rationality and ability to think complex problems. Also many of you know that those that have their frontal lobe of their brain damage can have severe personality changes. While his brain is unharmed his mental deterioration is causing a similar effect.**

 **So he is making irrational decisions due to his problem and that is what is making him make choices he wouldn't have originally. Originally if Cloud had offered threats to get a Hyuuga he would have out maneuvered them. He also would have shown he is a S class threat who is quite capable of taking out a battalion of their troops if need be. (Not canon I know but my Hiruzen would have been a little more protective of his people)**

 **Not only that if Itachi had escaped and sent out a plea for help then he would have done so. One their his people and two the Uchiha numbers are needed in his forces. If civil war had come he would have outsmarted the rebels and won their loyalty again not to mention if he had all his faculties the Uchiha wouldn't have been planning a coup to begin with as he would never had allowed the civilians to have that much power. Not to mention he could have faced another great war without worry.**

 **As for shadow clones. Its one thing to send them scouting but a complete other thing to have them read or learn extensive information and then get all that info in a sharp burst when they dispel. So Hiruzen could have made two clones to do such when he was younger as long as he had his wife medic on hand to help sooth the mental stress it would cause. Now he can't due to his mental imbalance and lack of someone he trusts to heal his mind.**

 **As for Iruka. In the canon story it was said he didn't think Naruto as human at first but came to think of him as such. So in my story he helps sabotage Naruto which is why Naruto doesn't ask him for educational help. Iruka doesn't truly want to believe that he could be so cruel to a child so he deludes himself into blaming Naruto for his shortcomings. This is also why Naruto trusts Mizuki so easily. After seeing Iruka change after taking him out for Ramen Naruto wonders if he has misjudged others so he carelesssly trusts Mizuki afterwards.**

 **As for Iruka's punishment. Forcing Iruka to use the shadow clone jutsu is truly a harsh punishment. Basically he overworks Iruka's mind everytime he helps Naruto though the task is not enough to break Iruka's mind. Also I think Naruto not knowing how to read or write is sort of canon. I've heard on forums that Naruto having such a hard time reading the Forbidden Scroll and that later he couldn't read a road sign with Jiraiya means he might never had been taught.**


	9. Power Grab

**Crazyredhead: Naruto might get trained but it will be quite a few chapters from now. I think you are in my head as I had planned to make Tsunade's strength her limit but I'm not going in the way your thinking of. ;)**

 **Thank you all for reviewing.**

* * *

 **The Next Day**

As Naruto entered his office after doing his physical training he smiled as he noticed that he was just in time to see the sunrise from behind the Hokage Monument. Pouring himself a cup of tea he sighed as he decided to take a moment to enjoy it. He winced slightly as a clone of his popped to send him information. Examining the memory he smiled as he thought over the clone's observations about sealing matrixes. Inwardly he allowed himself to gloat. Normally a sealer wouldn't learn about matrixes until their second year of study yet with the shadow clone jutsu he had reached that point in seven months.

Turning from the window he pushed some of his chakra into a seal on his desk that Hisa-chan had shown him the day before when he came back from his stint in the training grounds. Ten seconds later Hisa opened his door. Her hair was up in a bun today and she was wearing a senbon pouch on her hip. Seeing his gaze she answered his unasked question, "Some people have been resistant to your orders to make an appointment. I needed an extra incentive to keep them in line and out of your office. May I ask what you need Godaime-sama?"

Naruto sighed. He had tried to get the woman to call him Naruto or at least Uzumaki, but so far she had proven to be stubborn. "Can you tell me my schedule for the day?"

"Your free for another hour. At seven a.m. you have an appointment with Hiashi Hyuuga. All he would say was that it dealt with his clan's seal. At eight you have a meeting with twelve Root nin who have recently come back from missions. At nine you have a group of civilians coming in about the village repairs. Your free from ten to twelve though your team mates came in yesterday and both mentioned visiting you today when your free so most likely you'll be entertaining them. I would suggest you do something about the Genin Haruno. She was quite disrespectful towards you and if she continues others might behave in a similar manner. At twelve you have a meeting with the Anbu commander so that you can formally be introduced to your Anbu. Then your only appointment is with Koharu at three," Finishing Hisa closed her appointment book and stood until she was dismissed.

Naruto nodded thanking her as she left. Frowning he wondered what the Hyuuga Clan Head wanted from him. Feeling his stomach growl Naruto decided to go to eat in one of the restaurants and get a good look at how the repairs were going. Yuki's Sushi was crowded, but Naruto eventually took a seat at the bar next to two ninja he recognized as Genma and Raidou. Thinking back to his memories from his clones; he knew that the two had just come back from an S-class mission from Hot Water Country. There had been some refugees hiding out there from the Bloodline Purge in Water Country. The group had asked to join their village and according to Sarutobi's notes they were going to be officially denied to avoid reprisal from the Mist village. Though one of his Root nin had informed him that Danzo had planned to kidnap the children there. Instead Naruto had sent these two to guard the bloodline users back here.

Seventeen people had been brought back and were currently being vetted by his top three specialist in the Intelligence division. If all went well Konoha would soon have eleven chunnin level nin and six children waiting to join the Academy. Honestly Naruto expected little trouble from Mist as the village had too much on its plate to test Konoha. He was also making it mandatory for them to receive a minor loyalty seal and a major silencing one. Basically the loyalty seal did nothing more than create a sense of happiness in being here and the silencing one was the same the Root organization used. Basically they would be unable to discuss village information with anyone that didn't already know the information or unless also would be unable to speak of the seals themselves.

He felt some guilt for putting these kind of seals on people, but like with Tsunade he put his personal feelings aside and thought about the village. Having a clan of people with the ability to use Storm Release would be a major asset to the village, but he couldn't take the chance of them being spies like Kabuto. So his clone had given them the choice of getting seals and staying or leaving. Shaking himself from his thoughts he ordered a huge plate and some milk from the gaping waitress.

"So, Hokage-sama, rumor has it that your preparing a lot of reforms. May I ask what they are?" Genma questioned softly from beside him. Genma's question seemed innocent. One that would expected from any citizen concerned of their future. In Reality it was anything but. This was a test- a challenge to see how capable he was. If he refused to answer then it would breed distrust from the ninja eavesdropping on their conversation. If he told them everything then he would be considered a liability. Many would wonder if he could keep information private and if he had the maturity not to brag. Genma's real question was if he could balance the art of hiding and giving information.

Smiling sharply Naruto nodded with apparent faked cheer, "Of course, Genma-san I would love to. I'm going to be changing patrol patterns and I intend to make a few improvements to the academy. Nothing much really."

He had said nothing not already rumored about as Koharu had not been too quiet about her monitoring the academy for future changes and he had announced patrol changes the day before. No one knew how extensive the changes at the academy would be. At most people were assuming that he would change the curriculum to a few more physical aspects. So far no one knew he was planning of creating a system were ninja could learn a few things from each other as a requirement to be promoted nor did they know he was implementing a mandatory therapy session to catch future Orochimaru's before they cracked.

"Here's your order, Hokage-sama," The waitress announced as she placed his order infront of him. He turned his attention to his food cutting off any other attempts to question him much to the approval of Genma and a few others.

* * *

Back in his office Naruto saw that he still had forty minutes until his meeting. Taking the secret passageway to Ibiki he knocked on the tall man's door. Entering he sat in the offered seat before speaking, "How's all of yours' status on vetting our new arrivals?"

Ibiki leaned back in his chair, "There's not much to say at the moment. their story is that they've been dodging hunter nin for the last ten years since the Purge began. The finally got out of the country a year ago and have been steadily heading towards fire country over the last six months to seek asylum. They became aware that the Hunter nin had caught up three weeks ago and they sent a plea for help. So far I've gotten nothing that disproves this and Inochi hasn't seen anything himself. Right now Anko is checking them out."

Nodding Naruto and Ibiki chatted for the next fifteen minutes until Naruto left to speak to Hiashi. Returning to his office Naruto had Hisa make some tea as he waited for the man to come. Just as Hisa set the formal tea set out. Naruto heard a knock on his door. Allowing the clan leader in Naruto stood and nodded his head as Hiashi bowed. Pointing to the chair before his own Naruto ordered Hiashi, "Sit"

Going through the formal art of making his guest tea; Naruto waited for Hiashi to speak. Naruto watched as the man dropped his formal mask and showed his worry. When he spoke his voice was filled with exhaustion, "Hokage-Sama, as you know my clan has used the Caged-Bird Seal for nearly two hundred years to protect our Doujutsu. Sadly this seal has the side-effect of causing slavery in our family. My brother, Hizashi, actually became close to your mother and had her look at the seal. So far we have not found an alternative to this."

Hiashi paused to take a sip of his tea, "My youngest child, Hanibi, has reached the age were she will be branded with this seal. I love my children, Hokage-Sama, and I do not wish for them to share my brother's fate. I have found only one loophole. If Hinate is married out of the clan then I can make Hanabi my heir and save them both from gaining the seal. I have always known my eldest harbors a deep affection for you. I beg you Hokage-Sama to marry my Hinata and make her happy."

Maybe in another world he would have married the Hyuuga, Naruto mused. Maybe he would have been straight or so desperate from love that he would have chosen her primarily because she had always liked him. Right now he felt no such compunction for several reasons. One he was gay and he refused to be in a marriage without mutual love and attraction. Two he was not interested in her obsessive love and he would not be encouraging it. Most importantly he knew that the man before him was lying. Oh Hinata loved him and Hiashi had genuine concern for his youngest's safety that was true. He may have very well have fallen for the man's excellent act if it wasn't for two things. He knew that the man did not give a damn about Hinata. Many in his class had seen Hiashi demean and even slap they Hyuuga heir for her gentle personality.

What's more was that Naruto could make out the calculative gleam in the man's gaze. That was how he knew the whole meeting was a sham to bid for control over him. Most likely if he had married Hinata; Hiashi would have faked another act about how his hands were tied and Hinata would have received the seal anyways. He wasn't an idiot. Hinata marrying outside of the clan would have done nothing in getting her out of the seal. She would have received it and then he would have been forced to choose between doing what was right for the village or doing the Hyuuga's bidding for his wife's safety.

He felt a cold rage sweep over him as he contemplated Hiashi's manipulation. A few months ago before Iruka bumped into him at the library and started helping him; he might have fallen for the man's trick. So desperate for people to care about him and not knowing his orientation then. He would have married the girl even with his fear of her past stalking. He would have entered an eventual loveless marriage and would have become a puppet. It was that last thought that sent his rage bubbling out of him. This ninja had just tried to trick him into becoming his clan's puppet. He had tried to trick a Hokage into performing his whims over the safety of the village. A day ago the man had pledged his clan's loyalty to him and already the man was trying to break that oath.

Remembering some things he had read about Konoha's founding and the laws of the village, Naruto allowed a sharp feral smile to stretch across his face. Hiashi froze knowing some part of his plan had gone wrong, "So, Hiashi-san do you understand that you just asked me as your Hokage to save your daughters from a seal your clan administers to themselves?"

"Yes," Hiashi replied uncertainly.

Naruto smirked, "According to the treaty the Shodaime and Hibashi Hyuuga signed in accordance to their joining this village. The Hokage nor its ninja can interfere with clan matters unless it endangers the village or even one lone citizen. Unless the matter involves treason or unless the Head of the Clan asks for help about a clan matter. You'll find the full description in Section 2, subsection 5, in paragraph four."

Hiashi paled and gasped out without thinking, "You've read the Treaty of Joining?"

"Yes, I have. As I said during the council meeting; I have clones reading everything in the Hokage Library. I'm not just having clones reading about jutsu or about Personnel files. They're researching everything from missions back in the Shodaime time to census reports made ten years ago. Don't think for a second Hyuuga that I'm ignorant nor too stupid to understand how to use what I've read. I also do not appreciate you trying to trick me, your Hokage, into marrying your daughter. I am not a fool. I know very well she would have received the seal even if she married me. So was your plan to force me to do your bidding at the cost of her life?" Naruto demanded furious.

Hiashi flinched. Naruto drew on the Killing Intent of the Kyuubi and focused it on the Clan Head making the man swallow and sway ever so slightly. His voice had a slight growl to it from Kyuubi as he spoke, " **I know you've never treated Hinata well due to my time as her classmate, but even I didn't think you would sink this low. I've never liked the girl, I admit, but I would never hope for her to be used as some bargaining chip to commit near treason with, Hyuuga."**

"Treason?" Hiashi questioned as he gained ahold of his fear.

The lines thickened on Naruto's face as he bared his teeth savagely, " **Yes, Hyuuga I said treason. I thought I demonstrated how I felt about powerplays and treason enough; when I had Danzo executed before your lot. The only reason I haven't had my Anbu slice your damn head off is merely, because you given me too good of an opportunity to pass up. As an alive clan head you've given me permission to straighten your clan out without giving them the right to call a civil war. Barracuda, take Hiashi to Anko for his punishment. I may not be able to execute him, but I can damn sure make him regret trying to control my office and lying to my face about his reason for me to marry his daughter."**

Naruto cutoff Kyuubi's chakra and watched as his Anbu dodged Hiashi's defensive thrust. The Anbu pulsed a stream of lightening into the man knocking him out. Hefting the Hyuuga o his shoulders he started heading towards the pathway leading to TI.

"Make sure he stays there until I need to head to his clan's compound to tell them the good news. Tell Anko to have fun!" Naruto called out to the disappearing nin as the portrait slammed shut behind him.

Sighing Naruto rubbed his temples. He knew that he was chosen as Hokage mainly, because many thought they could control him due to his age and inexperience. Though he didn't expect Hiashi Hyuuga to be willing to sacrifice his daughter so easily for it. Maybe the man wouldn't have gone as far as threatening to kill his daughter to gain control. But Naruto knew by the look on the man's face that he had planned to use Hinata against him in some way.

Pinching the bridge of his nose Naruto stood to look out his window. Silently he watched as people helped the construction workers move rubble. Hearing a slight knock at his door he glanced to see it was time for the Root members meeting.

* * *

 **a/N: Many probably think I jumped the gun with Hiashi, but my mindset is that Naruto is right now the weakest kage. Hell he has hundreds of ninja that could kill him easily. So he has to be seen as a hardass to win any respect from his subordinates and to make them learn he isn't going to allow any shit that can bite him in the ass. He has no reputation to rule from at the moment as people haven't been seeing him doing missions alongside them for years. Worst he has had the Kyuubi working against him for years so he has built up no longterm good will. All he has is what he did during the invasion.**

 **Refugees. Im not going to be introducing them as dozens of OCs that take away from the story. At most you might get a brief name here and there during an event. Naruto is allowing them in to build up Konoha's power and because he genuinely wants to help people. Though he's safe about it by taking precautions.**


End file.
